Originally Posted by O.city (Post 13489861)

No, I'm glad your back.

It's hard to use the small sample size of Newman to determine he'd have the tourney he's had, but it's been awesome to watch.

Originally Posted by Malik Newman Yay (Post 13489869)

Oh, believe me - I'll never be back.

At this point, at least for the rest of this tourney, Malik Newman is Superman. His confidence is at an all-time high and the dude just has that look - you can tell when a moment isn't too big for a player, and Malik is basically bizarro Wiggins.

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 13489878)

Yeah, that's true, but hot streaks are hot streaks. They tend to end.

Originally Posted by Lzen (Post 13489750)

How many Duke players will be lottery picks compared to how many KU players? Really, this is just silly.

Originally Posted by Bearcat (Post 13489917)

I almost feel bad for banning this mult... not 100% in agreement, but a much better take than KC_Kenpom.

Originally Posted by ROYC75 (Post 13489968)

Why ban him?

I have never understood this !

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 13489986)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kansas-Duke overnight rating surged +34% at 7p ET last night as viewers came looking for Stormy:<br><br>6:45: 11.1/21<br>7:00: 14.9/28<br>7:15: 16.0/29</p>&mdash; Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) <a href="https://twitter.com/mulvihill79/status/978269717612736513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Originally Posted by ROYC75 (Post 13489968)

Why ban him?

I have never understood this !

Originally Posted by Lzen (Post 13489754)

Well, they say you need a little luck in the tournament. And there's also the old saying that luck is preparation and perspiration. How lucky was Duke that KU missed several wide open 3s? Svi rarely misses those shots when they are wide open.

Originally Posted by Bearcat (Post 13489917)

I almost feel bad for banning this mult... not 100% in agreement, but a much better take than KC_Kenpom.

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13489946)

What's the answer? Do you have one?


Oh and Devonte isn't a lotto pick. Is he talented? First team AA and P5 conf player of the year of is < Trevon Duval.....BECAUSE OF DRAFT ORDER?

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13489946)

What's the answer? Do you have one?


Oh and Devonte isn't a lotto pick. Is he talented? First team AA and P5 conf player of the year of is < Trevon Duval.....BECAUSE OF DRAFT ORDER?

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 13490015)

Duval isn't a lottery pick this year. Maybe the other 3, plus Allen will be a first rounder.

Originally Posted by Malik Newman Yay (Post 13489869)

Oh, believe me - I'll never be back.

At this point, at least for the rest of this tourney, Malik Newman is Superman. His confidence is at an all-time high and the dude just has that look - you can tell when a moment isn't too big for a player, and Malik is basically bizarro Wiggins.

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 13489986)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kansas-Duke overnight rating surged +34% at 7p ET last night as viewers came looking for Stormy:<br><br>6:45: 11.1/21<br>7:00: 14.9/28<br>7:15: 16.0/29</p>&mdash; Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) <a href="https://twitter.com/mulvihill79/status/978269717612736513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Originally Posted by Malik Newman Yay (Post 13489855)

Just to quickly put KCC back in his place..

The fact none of you could point that out makes me sad for this board.

Originally Posted by Chiefspants (Post 13456825)

The goal of this Big 12 tourney should be to get De Sousa and Garrett as many high stress minutes as possible.

Love seeing Newman have this performance as well. Getting all these guys in sync before the tourney should be the goal, of course.

But, they could always sweep the tourney and then drop Game 1 to Northwestern Santa Fe State. This team is one of the hardest to predict in Self's catalog.

Originally Posted by Chiefspants (Post 13460326)

And with that, Bill Self gives the middle finger to CP’s braintrust.

He should make it a double bird by getting deep in the NCAA.

Newman has been just nails. Him performing at this caliber changes our entire trajectory. Add in Silvio playing like he is and this team could prove everyone wrong.

Or they could lay an egg on the first weekend - I’ve given up hypothesizing about this team.

Originally Posted by Chiefspants (Post 13490123)

FTR:

Originally Posted by sedated (Post 13490201)

"I wasnt around to make any predictions, but now that the Final 4 is set, you are all morons for not predicting it."

Originally Posted by sedated (Post 13490201)

"I wasnt around to make any predictions, but now that the Final 4 is set, you are all morons for not predicting it."

Originally Posted by maliknewmanman (Post 13490190)

This wasn't my point at all - my point was, none of you were intelligent enough to point out to KCC that KU's Kenpom statistics didn't account for the fact that Malik Newman has been playing like the alpha for 7 straight games, De'Souza emerged as a quality bench big, and that using a 37 game sample size where those two aforementioned factors weren't apart of the success KU has had since the start of the Big 12 tourney was a deeply flawed metric.

Your take would have been better if you didn't ruin it at the end by KCC'ing it with a "but that may lose in the 1st round!"

Originally Posted by Chiefspants (Post 13490236)

You may equate intelligence with getting in ****fights on here - but I try to avoid doing that. I tried to offer insight as to why KU may be seriously underrated heading into the tourney - and was fine leaving it at that.

It’s not worth the energy for me to go beyond that.

Originally Posted by maliknewmanman (Post 13490190)

This wasn't my point at all - my point was, none of you were intelligent enough to point out to KCC that KU's Kenpom statistics didn't account for the fact that Malik Newman has been playing like the alpha for 7 straight games, De'Souza emerged as a quality bench big, and that using a 37 game sample size where those two aforementioned factors weren't apart of the success KU has had since the start of the Big 12 tourney was a deeply flawed metric.

Your take would have been better if you didn't ruin it at the end by KCC'ing it with a "but that may lose in the 1st round!"

Originally Posted by maliknewmanman (Post 13490240)

You were spot on! I wish you wouldn't left the last part out about South Dakota A&T and I'd have given you mad props, brah.

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13490007)

Are you seriously going to argue that our roster has better players on it than Dukes? Really? Even after bashing self for relying on guards that had committed to Appalachian state and Towson? Really?

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13490332)

I don't think Dukes roster is good at all, outside of Bagley.

That's just me. Maybe they lost 8 games for reasons only you can explain.

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13490332)

I don't think Dukes roster is good at all, outside of Bagley.

That's just me. Maybe they lost 8 games for reasons only you can explain.

Originally Posted by SuperChief (Post 13489803)

Mass St. was indeed nuts after the game. I watched at Liberty Hall (which was SO fun), and as soon as the game ended, the masses were on the street. North Mass crowd started going south, then what appeared to be a huge crowd from the Granada area started coming north. The meeting in the middle was rowdy!

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13490349)

We lost games we shouldn’t have too. 7 of them to be exact.

Originally Posted by JoeyChuckles (Post 13490442)

How early did you get to Liberty Hall? I'm thinking of trying that for Saturday, but have never been in Lawrence for a tournament game.

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13490514)

I guess you kinda just made my point.

Originally Posted by lewdog (Post 13490893)

KcConnection....

Billay’s more reeruned brother to the north.

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13490872)

By what logic did us losing 7 games and them losing 8 prove your point that KUs talent is materially better than Dukes besides them having a ****ing assload more draft able players than we do when the draft is largely based on raw talent and measurables?

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13489680)

Duke superior talent?


Lol. Nobody with a brain thinks that

.....

Originally Posted by Pablo (Post 13490919)

C'mon brah, you trying to tell me billay's dad got laid TWICE?

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13491045)

:spock:

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch (Post 13489946)

BECAUSE OF DRAFT ORDER?

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 13491003)

Hootie has missed something even more obvious in his futile attempts to disprove the efficacy of KenPom.

The reason why it might underrate KU isn't because of Malik, it is that KU could be a better defensive team in the tournament than their statistical profile indicates. In contrast to the regular season grind where the team basically only played 6 players for 4 months and those 6 players had to conserve energy in such games in order to stay/play in them, they are exerting far more effort on the defensive end because of the stage/significance/finality of the games. Note that this still wouldn't change the fact that Villanova is a superior team in all facets, that Kansas is the clear underdog in Saturday's game, or that an incredible game will be necessary to pull off this upset, but it is something that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Originally Posted by saphojunkie (Post 13490129)

holy shit - ESPN has Devonte Graham as the 30th best draft prospect and Trevon Duval is 48.

Originally Posted by smithandrew051 (Post 13491124)

I really wonder what our Kenpom rankings would look like if you could restrict it to Mid-February and later. After all, the tournament is all about who’s hot at the moment. Who the hell really cares about the Washington loss right now?

Originally Posted by New World Order (Post 13491094)

You single-handedly did a pretty good job of that

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 13491003)

In contrast to the regular season grind where the team basically only played 6 players for 4 months and those 6 players had to conserve energy in such games in order to stay/play in them, they are exerting far more effort on the defensive end because of the stage/significance/finality of the games.

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 13491003)

Note that this still wouldn't change the fact that Villanova is a superior team in all facets, that Kansas is the clear underdog in Saturday's game, or that an incredible game will be necessary to pull off this upset, but it is something that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Originally Posted by TLO (Post 13491061)

Guys, I'm worried.

Originally Posted by Titty Meat (Post 13491062)

Villanova has a stacked roster

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 13491221)

wouldnt that be true for all teams.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 13491239)

this one you should be. Villionova is one helluva team. Talent and clicking on all cylinders.

but, they showed they are vulnerable against TT. It was a close game until 5 minutes left. We are a much better team than TT.

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 13491250)

No, other teams have far more depth than KU and don’t play with 6 man rosters all season (which means their starters can go all out in the minutes they do play).

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13491294)

On the rotation front, did Lightfoot sleep with Selfs daughter or what? You’d think he’d at least see A minute when doke was in trouble.

Originally Posted by cmh6476 (Post 13491297)

i don't believe self thought Lightfoot has the physicality to stop duke's frontcourt

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13491294)

On the rotation front, did Lightfoot sleep with Selfs daughter or what? You’d think he’d at least see A minute when doke was in trouble.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 13491328)

Right now, the team is better with DeSousa in the game instead of Lightfoot. That’s clear to anyone who has watched KU play this year.

Originally Posted by cmh6476 (Post 13491297)

i don't believe self thought Lightfoot has the physicality to stop duke's frontcourt

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider (Post 13491361)

I hope Lightfoot red shirts next year. He's a talented kid, and needs time in the weight room and more development. We should be stacked with bigs in 2018/19.

Originally Posted by O.city (Post 13489825)

Eh, missing open shots isn't exactly leaving points on the board.

Missing an open layup maybe.

Originally Posted by ROYC75 (Post 13489968)

Why ban him?

I have never understood this !

Originally Posted by Malik Newman Yay (Post 13489836)

Here's the issue with KCC and Kenpom and basically KCC (plus Prison Bitch) and advanced analytics in general :

KU is graded based off a rolling 37 game sample size and doesn't take into account Malik Newman has been the best player in the country for about 7 games. Before that, he was ... not this guy. Since the start of the Big 12 tournament, he is suddenly Kemba Walker. The guy is everything Andrew Wiggins and Ben McLemore weren't for KU when elimination games started. Wiggins' wanted nothing to do with the 'big moment', whereas Newman wants everyone to get the **** out of the way. Hell, Devonte Graham tried to throw the game away in overtime with that ridiculous pass to De'Souza (why? why? Why even try that?) and his missed front end of the 1 and 1.

Speaking of De'Souza - yep, again, Kenpom only has about a 7 game sample size of him, as well - so KU is graded on a curve that doesn't recognize the emergence of Malik Newman, superstar and De'Souza, 5 quality fouls, high energy guy who is a better defensive rebounder and presence than Azubuike.

Thus, the Kenpom ratings on KU are EXTREMELY flawed.

Even with all of that, according to the research, KU was 36% to win - people are acting like that is some sort of 'hail mary' - do any of you play poker? That's basically 7 8 offsuit against AK suited - who cares? It's barely anything. KU were 3 point dogs playing essentially in front of a home crowd - they outplayed Duke the entire game and almost lost entirely due to missed shots down the stretch.

The problem with KCC is this is the card he always plays - it's the, "well we have no shot based off the numbers so of course we're going to most likely lose, that's just common sense, because this, this and this" leaving him always open for the, "well yeah, we won because Bill Self is a great coach and KU hit shots!"

I'm right with him on LeBron, but he does it with LeBron every year - LeBron can never win because his team is never that good - but LeBron is so good that if they win, it's always because LeBron is the best. Prison Bitch does the exact opposite - he never makes a prediction, but waits for the 'crash and burn', so that he can blame Bill Self or Eric Hosmer or Alex Gordon on why everything crashed and burned. But hey, if they win it all, PB can just make fun of KCC because PB also never makes any predictions, just trolls on the side to rile everyone up.

Pretty dumb.

Either way - I thought Duke would probably win, but I figured if Malik kept playing like the best player in the tournament, KU could beat anybody.

Malik is 1 more big game against Nova from playing himself from a no-brainer back at KU next year to a top 20 pick - he might have already done it. Hopefully KU gets a National Championship out of this, but you can kiss Newman goodbye.

Newman is the most clutch KU player I've seen since Chalmers - and even Chalmers only made 1 shot. Newman is everything Andrew Wiggins wasn't. Wiggins had no heart. Newman is all heart. You gonna bet against KU with Newman playing like this? I'm not.

Originally Posted by Lzen (Post 13491441)

I agree with pretty much everything except the part about Chalmers. Not true. He was known for clutch shots, for being the guy that wanted to take them. There was no question on the team who was that guy.

Originally Posted by smithandrew051 (Post 13491446)

Yeah I wouldn’t say Chalmers only hit one shot.

I remember him launching one from deep against USC in the non-con (I think it was OT too) to win that. Also, he hit a bunch of big shots against Texas in the Big 12 Championship game.

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 13490872)

By what logic did us losing 7 games and them losing 8 prove your point that KUs talent is materially better than Dukes besides them having a ****ing assload more draft able players than we do when the draft is largely based on raw talent and measurables?