2016-17 Potential Milestones

Dear fellow RCB'ers, It is time to start ramping up. I have input my rosters and schedules into my database and i am ready for the season to start. The weather is still disgustingly hot here in OKC but that will change soon. Late Night is just around the corner and things look very bright for KU basketball. This has the earmarks of being a special season. Senior leadership has been a common thread in most of KU's special seasons. This season we have that in spades with Mason in the backcourt, Lucas in the frontcourt. Plus we have Graham ready for a true breakout season. Then just for good measure we have possibly the best freshman in the country. We also have some unknowns that could turn out to be amazingly spectacular. Word on the street is that Bragg is a transformed man and player. It remains to be seen but there is a great possibility that he could be very special. Svi showed signs last year of transforming into a force and with Greene gone those minutes will go to Svi and he may finally live up to potential. And don't kid yourself. Lagerald Vick is going to get minutes this year and we will not be sad when he is on the floor. Remember a lanky young man named Nicky Bradford? LaGerald has the potential to be better. In the front court we have a man child named Azubuike who is opening some eyes early on and may be better than originally thought. At the very least at 7'0", 280 he is going to wreck havoc on other teams front courts. Lightfoot may not be a big factor this season but this kid is a freak athlete with a crazy motor. So we are ready for what could be a very special season.

We also have a few milestones that could happen this season. Here is my list below.

1. KU will likely win our 13th straight conference title. While this is huge in any light it is really bigger than most know. If KU entered every season with a 50% probability of winning the conference the probability of winning 13 in a row is 1 in 10,000. If the average probability each season is 40% the odds of winning 13 is 1 in 150,000.

2. KU has won 30 or more games in a season 13 times. We have won 35 three times and in 2008 (a very special season) we won 37 games. This season we will almost certainly win well north of 30 games. Will we break our record of 37 games? I hope so.

3. Blue Blood victories-- we will play Kentucky, Indiana and Duke in the season. We could easily play UCLA and North Carolina in the tourney. A 5 game blue blood sweep would be sweet. Hey a guy can dream.

4. AFH win streak - If you watch KU on TV you have heard 10 million times that Bill Self has won more conference titles than he has lost games in AFH. It is actually pretty dadgum impressive. In 13 years Self has lost 9 games in AFH. 6 of those 13 seasons he has been undefeated at home. We are currently riding a 40 game home win streak. That is the 4th best ever in AFH. The best win streak in 69 games by Coach Self from 2/7/07 to 1/15/11. It was broken by Texas in that heartbreaking game when Thomas Robinson lost his mother unexpectedly. After that loss KU won 33 before losing in that (gulp) loss to Marcus Smart and OSU. We then won only 10 straight before losing to San Diego St. in that inexplicable loss. After that we started on our current 40 game win streak. That means KU has won 142 of the last 145 games in AFH. That is unprecedented and beyond amazing. BTW, Larry Brown won 55 in a row and Roy Williams won 62 in a row. KU has 15 games in AFH this year. So if we go undefeated we will extend our streak to 55 tying for the 3rd best and within 1 year of breaking the record.

5. Games Played-if Frank Mason III plays in 38 games he will break Danny Manning's record of playing in 147 games.

6. Mason sit in 60th in KU history in FGM. He has a very good chance to move into the top 25 passing two guys named Wilt Chamberlain and Marcus Morris. He needs 141 or about 4 per game.

7. Mason has made 103 treys and ranks 24th and Graham has made 92 and ranks 28th. Mason needs 60 to move into the top 10. Possible but probably not likely. Graham could move into the top 15 with 52 and if he stays for his senior year has a great shot of getting into the top 6 with guys like Boschee, Thomas, Hinrich, Collins, Rush and Brown. That is elite Jayhawk company. I hope he stays.

8. Mason will almost certainly break the top 10 in FTM. He is currently 27th at 293. He would need about 4 per game to break into the top 5 passing guys like Simien, LaFrentz, Pierce, Langford and Collison. What a senior night we have in store this season.

9. Mason is 16th in assists at 389. He will certainly hit top 10 (499)

10. Tyshawn Taylor won 125 games as a Jayhawk. Frank has won 85 so for Frank to tie the Jayhawks would have to go undefeated. Let's hope.

11. 47 players have played in 100 or more games. Of those, CB McGrath has the best winning percentage at 91.2% or 103-10. No oned this season will come close to that or even the top 20 win%. Just thought it was a fun stat.

That is my top 10 potential milestones. We are 22 games behind Kentucky so while I'd love to add passing Kentucky in all-time wins that is still a few seasons away. Hope you enjoyed this foretaste and it starts your Crimson and Blue juices flowing. More to come.

Thank you !!!

What a great post to receive on this beautiful day here in Brooklyn, NY. A perfect aperitif (along with Gorilla's posts) to get us ready for Midnight Madness! Thanks, Corpus!

Love #3 and #4.

I think "Fwank" is set to be one of my all time favorite Jay-Birds!!!

10,000 ESPN stations ready to go at the WSG casa!

Rock Chalk.

Mentioned that I have moved and switched jobs.....will elaborate another time.....anyway good friend sent me a "housewarming pkg". It held:

Salvador Perez "itty bitty" doll
Rock Chalk notepad
Rock Chalk Jayhawk "coaster"
Jayhawk "chap stick" -- mint flavor.

Thanks for the great post that we can track. Maybe we create a checkoff list as they are met. Another one to watch but may not be a Top 10 is HCBS wins at KU. He can surpass HCRW's wins (385 vs. 418) this season with a better than average year. Also of note, HCBS would do it in 14 years vs. HCRW accumulated that number in 15 years.

PS - We are not interested in a better than average year - (#1 Seed (has become expected)), Regional Champion/Final Four (Expected Regularly but not always achieved) - Would be great to see #2 Last one standing under HCBS.

BOY ARE WE SPOILED AS FANS.

I like that one. Good catch Slayer. I will definitely add and track that one.

Thanks Corpus for the wondeful post.

Add new Hawk fan in the soon to be Mrs. LKF in 2017 to your comprehensive list. I'd like 15 and 6 to be added to the list as well.