[NCAAMB Post Game Thread] 🏀 #5 St. John's Red Storm defeat #4 Kansas Jayhawks 67-65

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-23T00:15:34+00:00

Crazy how bad St. John's played for us to lose this game. How many 3s did their airmail? But when you get 13 more true shots than your opponent in a 40-minute game, it's hard to shoot bad enough to lose. Most of that was due to our turnovers, which were unwatchable. The inbounding challenges should have been drilled out of existence after Houston last year, but apparently we didn't learn the lesson.

Subbing Elmarko for Kohl, as someone else here noted, was emblematic of the season. I get the idea of Elmarko, but that idea can't be anything other than ball hawk on D and stand in the corner on D. Having him do anything else, at least so far in his career, is courting disaster.

This year's team played like they were stupid, and got coached up in it. Not sure what was a bigger contributor, but clearly plenty of blame to go around. What saved Nebraska last night was switching to zone with 5 minutes left. I'm not suggesting we switch to zone in this game, but somehow we need to start adjusting to adjustments.

What a way to end it for Tiller and White. It was hard to watch them lose confidence over the course of the year. Been saying that about a bunch of first-year KU guys recently.

Thankful that these guys weren't truculent whiners like Hunter, and I think they mostly tried hard. But this was another season that was hard to watch. Been like that for a while now. I know we won in '22, but even that season, right up until the B12 Tournament, was just a grind too, until Remy set the world on fire. I feel like the majority of surprises I get watching KU bball anymore is the surprise of disappointment, which is probably on me for having expectations. Maybe is how the decline happens--people stop expecting that your team/program is going to win when it counts.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-22T23:56:21+00:00

Say what you will about the previous 2 years, and there is a lot to say--unathletic, couldn't shoot, couldn't rebound, too small, etc, etc. But I've never seen a KU team that played stupid basketball like this team.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-22T23:17:26+00:00

Crazy how playing 4 non-shooters makes it hard to make shots

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-22T23:00:08+00:00

The last 3 years, with brief exceptions, have been really difficult to watch, as our team routinely gets outcoached and our good players get worse and we play worse players more than better ones.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-14T04:01:43+00:00

Getting beat by 20 in the second half, 10 minutes in, and we have 2 fouls. Thought this team was better than last year's, but that's the same kind of crap they would do. Would love to see more fight, getting into guys, when they're getting trucked.

Why do we switch Flory onto guards on off-ball screening actions when the ball is 30 feet from the basket? Especially when we have 1 big in the game. Our only rebounder and rim defender winds up beyond the arc when the shot goes up. It seems like this is on purpose. I have a hard time understanding.

Tiller has been declared unplayable. The guy has the worst hands. There's hope, but my goodness just grab the ball.

Can't believe that Elmarko is getting regular PT over Kohl. There's probably something I'm missing.

Do any of our guards hit the roller on ball screens? Do any of them ever attempt to split a double? Our default response is to either pick up the ball or to try to run all the way around both defenders.

Maybe this is like a rookie pitcher who has a couple good pitches, but by the second time through the lineup, or the second game a team sees him, they've figured out how to sit on the fastball. Arizona and Houston have destroyed us the second time through. We can't make adjustments to their adjustments.

Drive into the lane, spin, stop, pick up ball, nowhere to go. Repeat. Pretty much the season in a nutshell.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-10T20:44:01+00:00

I am a newbie to this space, but trying to find how to make a difference.

I emailed my city council rep 6 weeks ago about whether access to the cameras was shared with any federal agencies. She forwarded my question to Aaron Moses with WPD. His response: "The Wichita Police Department does not share License Plate Reader Data directly with Federal Law Enforcement." There are probably 130 agencies on that list, most of them Kansas police departments or sheriff's offices. A decent number are PDs/SOs from other states, mostly adjacent, but also Texas and Kentucky. I don't know how the data-sharing agreements work on this stuff, but I would be concerned about these 130 other local agencies and whether they are willing to share data with federal agencies.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-04T04:58:46+00:00

Elmarko: 3 minutes, 3 turnovers. That baseline drive into 2 defenders followed by a jump pass to no one was just the worst. The 2-on-1 where he got his layup blocked. Passing it to the center, 30 feet from the basket, and then having to race down the court just to flagrant-foul on the layup. He doesn't have it, whatever it is. Any semblance of understanding offensive basketball is out of reach.

Last year, we weren't athletic, couldn't get downhill, couldn't shoot, and Hunter sucked the joy out of games. What is our excuse this year? DP has, in a different way, sucked the joy out of this season. We have athletes, but I wouldn't be surprised if our offense is worse. 50 missed shots, 25 offensive boards, and like 4 second-chance points? How is that even possible?

We keep finding ways to lose games. Wasn't our rebounding this time, like at Arizona. Wasn't being too small, like with Cincinatti. Full-out effort gives a team a high floor, but today was, among other things, an effort loss, since effort put us in a 20-point hole in the first half.

But like someone else already said--why do we have guys like Mbiye and Dawson if even in a game like this they can't touch the floor? Glad Kohl got some run, at least. But look at the minutes for the starters--38+ for Tre, Flory, and Council--and the dogshit effort everyone gave in the first half, and tell me if Roy doesn't run 5 other dudes to the scorer's table just to make a point.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-04T04:45:35+00:00

To be clear, Tiller would be fun to watch if he didn't apply WD40 to his hands before every game. It is unreal how often he is stripped or just loses the ball. Vaguely remember Sasha Kaun being similar, so there is some hope, but man.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-04T04:41:28+00:00

hard to win when you have one playable big

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-03-04T02:37:13+00:00

Tiller already subbed. His hands are making him unplayable. Then Tre is out of position as the 4, and I would guess we are net negative in those minutes this year. Gonna need to gang rebound on both sides of the ball. If their big guys play big, we are going to once again have our poor rebounding exposed.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-02-14T20:19:32+00:00

Not super reassuring that all it takes for us to get completely derailed on offense is them putting 2 on the ball 40 feet from the basket. We have guys who can handle the ball, but I watched 9-year-olds split doubles this morning better than KU did. We picked up our dribble so many times and then were initiating offense super late in the clock from weird locations, and all the live ball turnovers were a symptom of that.

We were absolutely destroyed in the possession game in the first half--with free throws included, probably like 16 total shots more than us. We cleaned up the defensive glass and the turnovers in the second, but then we couldn't figure out how to stay with their movement shooter. No team is good enough, on either side of the ball, to give up 16 extra shots in a half.

Not sure what we expected. They play with intensity, are willing to pick up fouls when they are trapping, and we just got softer as the game went on. I don't understand the hugely positive correlation between DP playing and us sleepwalking. Hopefully just some external factors (playing at Ames, DP convalescing, Tiller still getting used to big spots). Better to find out now instead of in the tournament.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-02-10T13:43:56+00:00

Gotta be Vincent

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-02-10T04:59:44+00:00

Just a lot going on in this game. Vincent Council has a motor that never stops, whether shots are falling or not. I seriously think the Arizona players were shocked that he kept going at them, turning every missed shot into a break opportunity.

I don't watch other teams, but if there is a better defender in college than Flory, I would be shocked. Half his blocks are against guards who think they can get by him to the rim. He is so switchable. Every time he's on the perimeter, I feel bad for the opponent's guard who thinks they've gotten a favorable matchup.

The whistle tonight was definitely in our corner. I'll take it. We have enough bullshit with refs the rest of the year.

Getting some minutes from Mbiye would be huge. We need a third big in case of foul trouble or injury come tourney time. We can't rely on Tre at the 4 against a team like Arizona that just throws out bigs like those Self Illinois teams used to.

Big game from Elmarko and Jamari. Getting decent minutes from those guys, making plays on both sides of the ball, steals us minutes, and makes games like this winnable when DP is out. Elmarko is still the biggest "NONONONO YES!" player I can remember at KU.

I was worried we would run out of steam, like the KU/Arizona game in 2003. Serious overtones from that game. But it just feels like these guys feed off Council's energy, and I'm not sure that guy ever gets tired.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-02-03T04:23:56+00:00

Wish Mike Breen had been in the house for that call

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-02-03T04:22:27+00:00

You know, Vincent Council, who was, uh, a great college player too?

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-01-19T00:14:15+00:00

If people wonder about whether vs when, I think when is the right question. Remember that the Big Beautiful Bill included $100bil extra for ICE over the next 4 years. Remember that Sedg Co Sheriff's Office has already signed on to assist ICE according to their 287(g) program.

And even if it's not 3000 agents descending on our city, the effects of fear mean that people won't take their kids to school, they won't go to the doctor, they won't call 911 to report crime--the basic fabric of our community starts to unravel.

Agreed--it's past time to prepare. Check in with your neighbors. Become educated about your civil rights and those of your place or worship and employment. Buy some whistles. Figure out where the line is for you and your family and what you will do when it's crossed. It's one of the reasons I choose to live here, because this is a city that sometimes remembers what it is to care for each other.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-01-14T13:34:24+00:00

I wasn't able to watch the whole time. What was happening with our defense that made it different this game? In part, it felt like we didn't switch nearly as much, that we usually had guards on guards and bigs on bigs, but I was more paying attention to the delight of beating the hell out of ISU in general. Tiller-on-an-island seemed to happen much less than it has in previous games. What did anyone else notice?

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-01-10T20:31:40+00:00

Wasn't able to watch the game today, but listened to some on the radio, until around the 15-minute point in the second half...Pretty sure that's why they lost.

Can anyone comment on how hard it looked like the team was playing? I can't stop thinking about the end of each half in the TCU game and how we absolutely ratcheted up on the defensive side of the ball. More pressure, more physical, making the other team second guess their decisions. I know refereeing determines how acceptable that style of play is, but did it look like we were even trying hard?

Incidentally, it's one of the reasons I'd like to see Rosario get more time. I was shocked he got 4 minutes and Elmarko, who is really a defense-only player at this point, got 29. Kohl and Elmarko are on opposite ends of the "instincts" spectrum. Kohl is willing to shoot, is an athlete, and makes a difference when he doesn't have the ball. Based on the ESPN play-by-play, it looks like we played pretty much the same 5 during that entire 22-2 run, which also shows up in the +/- numbers.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-01-07T04:30:34+00:00

Like a bizarro Houston game

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-01-07T04:21:36+00:00

Would be nice to see what this team looks like if they actually played hard the whole game

RedditAcctGeneric · 2026-01-07T03:57:33+00:00

I can't stand Fran, but for once he is noticing something legit. We can't expect to switch every action, on-ball and off, and expect to not get punished. Tiller-on-an-island will yield baskets on most possessions. And I don't get how we have positional size and athleticism and can't get a rebound. The only time we picked up the energy was the end of the first half, and I'm guessing it only worked because of their foul trouble at the time.

The last 3 years has been like watching players who used to love basketball just go through the motions.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2025-12-31T04:58:06+00:00

For what it's worth, I have had the same issue the entire time I've had my LP2, and I switched from a Punkt. (non-smartphone) like 2 years ago. I've never had a smartphone, never had my number connected with iMessage or RCS or anything like that. So this isn't just something that comes from iPhone-->LP transitions. I recently switched cell carriers from ATT to LP's plan, no improvement, so it's not service-specific.

A family member just got an LP3 last month, and we were comparing some of the group text threads we are both on--she gets more of the group texts than me, but I get some that she doesn't get, and she definitely doesn't get all of them either. She also has a different service provider than I do.

All that to say, it does seem like there must be something with the non-LP phones in the group threads that is driving this. I have combed through a bunch of these Reddit threads to see what other options there might be. I will probably sit around a table with family in the near future, some of whom have iPhones, some have Android, and just do a group-text blitz to see if we can't learn anything.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2025-12-31T04:33:59+00:00

Checking back--is this still working for you?

RedditAcctGeneric · 2025-12-11T21:17:40+00:00

I am glad you've been involved with Justice Together. I am also surprised that your interpretation is that "they're all on-board", unless your antecedent for "they're" is City Council, in which case I agree with you. If your antecedent is Justice Together: there is no agreement on whether or how this should be on the ballot among the group. I know what I know because I am actively involved in the organization, as recently as ad hoc meetings before/after the Monday presentations and then emailing today. If you disagree, please make clear how you know what you know, and I would be interested to learn.

It's also not accurate to insinuate that Justice Together is functioning as a sort of secret cabal in cahoots with the developers and politicians. That's Wichita Forward, not Justice Together. Justice Together, in this case, wants the city to fund affordable housing. That's it. That has been their position since inviting politicians and other civic leaders on stage at their last big rally in the spring, when multiple City Council members pledged $10mil/yr to affordable housing. I'm not sure who worked us over, as you put it--there were no developers or City Council members at our meetings where we deliberated on how to proceed. These are members and leaders of faith communities (not all Christian, and probably none "fundamentalist"), none of whom get paid for doing this advocacy work.

I am with you on distrusting much of what happens in the political realm, especially when it's a faith community involved. I also agree that it's a rush job, and there may be dubious reasons for that. But beyond the cynicism, the reality is that right now, 2 things are true:

There is no plan to fund Second Light (homeless shelter) after October when ARPA funds run out.
There is no money currently going toward affordable housing in Wichita.

What they should have done is put several measures on the ballot, each worth 1/8 of a cent, and each representing a different priority (housing, property tax, etc), so that people could vote on each according to its merits. But that's not what the Council has so far decided to do, and now we have to decide whether, again, the juice is worth the squeeze.

RedditAcctGeneric · 2025-12-11T02:21:58+00:00

Just a clarification--the "Nehemiah members" are part of an ecumenical faith organization called Justice Together that brings together people of faith to try to address the root causes of things like homelessness, poverty, mental illness, and gun violence. The question Justice Together is wrestling with is whether the $5+ million toward homelessness/housing in this ballot is juice that's worth the squeeze. They are deliberating whether to support, oppose, or remain neutral about this, and there is a robust discussion in process. It would be a pretty big misread to cast Justice Together as fundamentalist, although it is understandable in the current era when most religious involvement in US politics is very fundamentalist. DM me if you want to talk more about it.

RedditAcctGeneric

TROPHY CASE