Hunter...

He was in the game from the start, and we started fine. Then he was taken out, and we stopped being 'fine.' In the 2nd half, he was in for our 9-0 run, and then he was taken out, and then we stopped playing entirely. Is it a coincidence or is Mickelson actually a catalyst for our offense and defense? Self is never going to actually explain what his decision process is because either implicitly or explicitly he will be criticizing Hunter, which he cannot do, so it's likely we'll never truly know why Self does what he does. But it's clear that with Traylor and Lucas our opponents KNOW with 100% certainly that don't need to worry about offense from those 2 at all. It leads to a lot of 5 on 4 situations, which does not work to our advantage.

I will comment about the refs. I am not blaming them for the loss, but they were unable to do their job last night, either because WVU fouls on every possession and if they called them all, the entire team would foul out, or they lack the courage to call fouls against the home team. Perhaps both are true, but last night WVU fouled our guys on every possession. Every one. Some were more obvious than others, but they were fouled nonetheless. It appears that the new rules are already fading into oblivion, again. It will be interesting to see what happens in Lawrence, when WVU comes to our floor.

Great point Senex. I have been singing the praises of Hunter since they left Korea. Clearly HCBS has some sort of issue with him. I believe he is as least as good of a rebounder as Lucas but on OR there is always the threat he could score. Landen's job after a rebound is to find a guard. Also read....not a threat. 4 on 5 basketball is much easier for any team let alone a good team like WVU.

Also agree on the PFs. Personally I don't mind the contact as long as both teams are allowed the same latitude. That was not the case last night. I'm not sure WVU had one blocking foul on defense and I am positive they never were called for a charge at the other end. Frustrating to say the least.

RKCKJHK!!!

I thought HCBS was pulling HM for LL or JT for a bigger body on the boards. WVU’s big guy w/ glasses would throw his shoulder into the defender to create space. I’m surprised he never got called for an offensive foul. It is very difficult to wins games when there is such a great disparity in foul shots. KU: 13/21. WVU: 33/47. It is also very difficult to win games when you turn the ball over 20 times.

[quote="MountainHawk" post=1779 WVU’s big guy w/ glasses would throw his shoulder into the defender to create space. I’m surprised he never got called for an offensive foul.[/quote]

That was driving me nuts it was happening so often without getting called. Can a ball handler use his body to create space? Sure, but in those cases it wasn't even close to NOT being a foul. Lowering your shoulder and trying to bull your way into a set defender like that is 100% a foul every time and PAINFULLY OBVIOUS. I found myself screaming "how is that NOT a foul?" at my poor TV that I think the dog thought he was in trouble.

Was that why we lost? Of course not, but had their guy been called for it he'd have either picked up some more fouls, or had to change his behavior.