As the official Rock Chalk Talk referee apologist, here's my cover to show that I'm not always on their side. Watched the game this morning and didn't think the game was called poorly, though it did appear to be called fairly tight. There were two calls though that I definitely disagreed with, one on Wesley going for a rebound and a no-call on a USC inbounds play.

The "over the back" call against Wesley on this one is a huge pet peeve of mine. Almost as bad as a defensive block when the offense is initiating all the contact. It's not a foul to out jump a guy that has better position!

No call after the jump.

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Dear Bill,

Let me begin by saying you're clearly a genius and I'm not. You've ran one of the top programs in college basketball for almost a decade now. You've got seven Big 12 Championships in the last seven years. You're one of the few coaches in the nation that cannot be upgraded, wouldn't trade you for anyone. But can we talk about the season so far? You said the team would struggle with depth. We knew that was going to be an issue. You said that defense would have to be the key. We're also with you on that one. Ten games into the season and you've already beaten one of the best teams in the nation and went toe to toe with another. We're not complaining one bit, enjoying the ride.

What happened the other night against Davidson wasn't fun though.

"I’d like to see a lot of things," Self said of improvement for Thursday. "To see us actually attempt to guard, to get in (defensive) stance, to win 70 percent of the 50/50 balls, to not give up layups, to have enough discipline to guard the entire clock and not break down. For us to not play tired, to have more energy and passion, to run our stuff and try to execute what we do instead of being out there on our own."

Sounds like you agree. Good, we're on the same page so far. The part I'm curious about, why won't you use your bench to address the things listed here? Almost everything you listed for improvement is a sign of guys playing fatigued. Not going after loose balls? Tired. Defensive breakdowns? Tired. Not playing tired? Tired. I'm sure you're aware of this but do you realize your top 6 average more minutes per game than the rest of the conference? It's true.

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"You're never as good as you are after a win and never as bad as you are after a loss" The Jayhawks have seen both sides of that quote in their last two games, beating a very good Ohio State team and following it up with a loss to a very average Davidson team. Shot lights out against Ohio State and would struggle to hit water if they fell out of a boat against Davidson. After going back and watching the game, there are three things that stood out to me that are worthy of discussion. First, the team has to get better at dealing with double teams. With the makeup of the team this year, the bigs are going to get doubled early and often. Moving on, Withey has to be better. He doesn't need to be All-American good but he needs to have an impact. The third will be another post on its own later today or tomorrow.

First up, the double teams. There were multiple times the guards were stuck standing around the 3 pt line during the double team, not terrible by itself. But they also never moved one way or the other to create a passing lane to help Robinson or Withey get rid of the ball. The other problem I saw was the guard on the backside falling in love with the corner. It happened so often that I wonder if they're not coached on it but I have hard time believing that's where they're supposed to be. That's a very difficult cross-court pass and staying in the corner also brings the hoop into play. Check out the pictures below and see what you think.

Not a fan of Teahan's positioning at all. Hanging out where he is allows the defense to cover every player that can receive a pass.

More pictures and a look at Withey's few minutes in the first half after the jump.

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Recap: KU's second-half defense made comeback nearly impossible against Davidson | The Newell Post | KUsports.com
Newell Post

Cole Aldrich comes to play (and more from Tuesday preseason games) | 'Hawks in the NBA | KUsports.com
Cole Aldrich might beat out Nazr Mohammed at some point in the rotation. He looks 100 percent better. He doesn’t have near the offensive game Mohammed has, but defensively Aldrich is active everywhere. He never stops challenging shots and tries to rebound everything. And he even showed off a legit sky hook (and made it!) late in the fourth.

Bill Self: After Davidson, KU is all-business on road | KUsports.com
"I’d like to see a lot of things," Self said of improvement for Thursday. "To see us actually attempt to guard, to get in (defensive) stance, to win 70 percent of the 50/50 balls, to not give up layups, to have enough discipline to guard the entire clock and not break down. For us to not play tired, to have more energy and passion, to run our stuff and try to execute what we do instead of being out there on our own."

Snyder won’t let K-State’s success change recruiting approach - KansasCity.com
Some information from the west. They're still playing football over there.

Miami player cleared, but Haith remains in limbo - KansasCity.com
Some information on the school to the east. Player reinstated, no word on whether Haith is in trouble yet.

Much criticized Miles is AP coach of year | CJOnline.com
Tricky call with coach of the year, LSU had a great season and dealt with a lot of distractions this season. However, do you get credit for dealing with distractions that result from the kids you recruited being undisciplined?

Davidson topples KU 80-74 at the Sprint Center - KansasCity.com
The scene has become all too familiar in recent years: A team from a mid-major conference celebrating a victory over the Kansas Jayhawks, who leave a neutral floor confused as to what just happened. This time, as the final seconds ticked off of Davidson’s 80-74 win over No. 12 KU on Monday night in Kansas City, the Jayhawks fired up a barrage of desperation three-pointers in front of a half-empty Sprint Center.

Thomas Robinson's rebounding earns him top spot in Davidson loss | The Keegan Ratings | KUsports.com
Keegan Ratings.

Lack of depth costs Kansas carrot, stick | KUsports.com
Any coach’s two best friends are his carrot and his penalty box. The carrot he holds is known as playing time, the penalty box a folding chair a few seats down the row. The carrot goes to those who apply the detail given to them in preparation for the opponent. The penalty box is where players who don’t follow the script go to watch the game.

(Mid)major bummer: Davidson proves KU ‘not that good’ | KUsports.com
"I don’t know if you can take as much from this game as maybe other games," Self said, asked about some of KU’s losses to mid-majors in the past. "This team is not that good."

College Basketball Man and Machine Consensus Top 25: 10 Teams Are Rated #1 By At Least One Human Or Computer " Notes from the Sports Nerds
Interesting look at all the polls in one place.

Todd O'Brien: St. Joe's won't give release to play at UAB - NCAA Basketball - SI.com

Must read. Graduate transfer student similar to Crist, yet isn't getting released to play at his new school. This is the player's side, hopefully this article either clears up or fixes this situation.

Charlie Weis undergoes successful hip surgery | KUsports.com
Get it out of the way now...

No decision from Notre Dame QB Crist on transfer - chicagotribune.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Dayne Crist is done browsing his potential transfer destinations. And he'll leave Notre Dame 's campus for good as a student Monday. But he's not yet sure where he'll end up. (Hat tip to Sagehen)

Dayne Crist: 'I will always be a Notre Dame guy'
More on Crist

KU basketball must do more heavy lifting this season - KansasCity.com
"Men’s basketball has to be good here," Bill Self says. "Has to be." It speaks to the standards of Kansas basketball that, even with the 10th game of the season Monday at the Sprint Center, nobody can be sure yet whether this Jayhawks team is good enough.

KU freshman Tharpe might play more by spelling Taylor - KansasCity.com
A little bit on Tharpe/Taylor. Loved the headline here

Tyshawn Taylor likely to play Monday against Davidson | KUsports.com
What? How? Hooray!

KU, Travis Releford return to K.C. | KUsports.com
Big weekend for the Relefords in Kansas City, tonight is older brother's turn.

Kansas Football

Tim Grunhard seeking specific linemen | KUsports.com
A little bit of information on what Grunhard is looking for in offensive lineman.

Big 12 Basketball

Kansas State serves notice vs. Alabama - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
"We may not be perfect," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said, "but we’re not taking a backseat to anyone, either."

Off Topic

Tecmo Bowl's Still Running After Touching Down At 20
Tecmo Super Bowl turned 20 last week. Had to be the best Nintendo game ever made, correct?

Yesterday we looked at the case FOR Charlie Weis. Today we flip the perspective and make the case AGAINST the hiring of Charlie Wies. Go easy on Warden because he volunteered to take this stance because he wasn't completely sold on the hire at the beginning. At the same time he's not "anti-Weis" and it's not easy to write this sort of opinion without coming off as overly negative. The point is there are two perspectives on this hire and right now both have some validity so just try to keep things in perspective while reading and discussing. - Owen

Sheahon Zenger shot for the moon on this hire, no question about that. Charlie Weis has built quite the resume over his time in football. Super Bowl rings almost cover an entire hand, former head coach at Notre Dame, and former offensive coordinator at the University of Florida. Guys with a resume like that generally don't take over the job of coaching one of the worst teams in Division 1 football. Of course, the job probably looked a bit rosier with a 2.5 million dollar salary with most of it guaranteed for five years.

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Lots of talk going on all over about the hire. I'm not sold but this post isn't concerned one way or the other with whether or not this is a good hire. Just providing some information that I've gathered quickly this morning, use this as a place to fact check a few of the claims that are being made about his tenure at Notre Dame. If there is anything that is missing, throw it in the comments and I'll see what if I can find.

(edit: Weis was at Notre Dame for the 2005-2009 seasons)

First up, recruit rankings for each class from scout.com from 2003 to 2012. That puts us a few years before Weis and a few years post-Weis. Thought that might help in determining his impact on the program. The table also includes the rankings for KU during the same time, just to give an idea for the different level of talents.

Weis had some very good classes during his 5 years at Notre Dame. The school also had some good classes before he got there and have had some very good classes after his firing. Either way, we can be pretty confident that our numbers will look better in a short period of time.

Moving on, Sagarin, FEI, S+P, and S+P+ offensive ranks for the years available.

Notre Dame's schedule has seem to come into play here as an excuse for why the program stumbled in his 3rd, 4th, and 5th years at the school. Here is the yearly breakdown of their schedule rank according to Sagarin and FEI.

Not a cupcake schedule but also not a murderer's row according to this information.

Football

Now is the time for Kansas to fire Turner Gill - KansasCity.com
Mellinger says the time is now and believes the job is a better one than it appears to be. I'm skeptical but a pirate doesn't need a pretty job.

Steven Johnson best player of 2011 season, according to ratings | The Keegan Ratings | KUsports.com
Keegan Ratings led by the defense. Isn't that a scary thing to read?

KU's next move must be bold one | KUsports.com
Keegan banging the drum for Leach or a Stoops.

So long: Kansas gives Missouri going-away gift in 24-10 Tigers' victory | KUsports.com
Tait does his game recap...Gill follows the same recipe that got him here.

High School Football

Prep football championships | CJOnline.com
Kansas high school championships yesterday. Congratulations to Olathe South, Hutchinson, Rose Hill, Conway Springs, and Centralia on their wins! Overtime in the 2A game and a 41-37 final in 6A.

Basketball

UNLV beats No. 1 UNC; upset of the year to date - CBSSports.com
UNLV beats No. 1 UNC; upset of the year to date

BREAKING: The NBA Lockout Is Over As Players And Owners Agree To A Settlement
Pending final approval, play will begin Christmas Day.

Something I gathered during the offseason here and finally getting around to putting it together, a quick chart showing just how much scoring needs to made up this year thanks to the departures from last season.  After watching the replay of the Kentucky game, I've got a few things that scare me heading into the season.  But first, here's a chart showing the points per game breakdown between returning players and players that left Lawrence. 

This shows the offense has a lot of ground to make up for the guys that left after last year.  We knew this was the case and comparing it to the past years leaves a little bit of comfort.  After the 2008 season, the situation actually looked a little worse but we had Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins coming back and they carried a huge load in the following season.  Also shows why the loss to UNI was so devastating in the tournament, that team brought back all kinds of experience.  Ugh, don't want to think about that anymore. 

For this year's team, Robinson and Taylor are the only two players returning that scored more than five points a game last year.  With very little help from freshman recruits, there's a big void to fill on the offensive end.  Kentucky's a very talented team and maybe the best defense we'll see all year but the offense stalled out multiple times on Tuesday.  After hopping out to an 18-12 lead with a little over 9 minutes to go on Tuesday, the team stalled and only made four field goals (3 of which were dunks) in the last 9 minutes of the first half while turning it over six times. 

The second half started the way the first half ended, outside of a nice layup by T-Rob.  A couple of Kentucky blocks and two turnovers left the team down by 9 after the first three minutes of the half.  At that point, the ground was starting to wobble.  Taylor started attacking and got himself to the line to save the game from getting out of hand.  But the worries are still there.

I have a fear that we're going to struggle with turnovers and shooting all year, leading to droughts of scoring on our end.  The offensive spurts we've lived on the last few seasons look like they could be awfully hard to come by this year.  Add in counting on guys to do things they've never shown in college and we're looking at a ton of nailbiters this season.  It will be fun but also might not be good for anyone's blood pressure.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  Grill a few pieces of meat, have a cold drink, and spend time with your family today...after reading the links.

NCAA officials coming to camp near you - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
Among its myriad other rules-related initiatives of the past year, the NCAA has cracked down on programs' summer camps.

The College Football Bowl Schedule Has Been Released
January 9th, 2012 will be the date of the next BCS Championship game. BELIEVE.

Meet The Favorites For Miss USA Pageant
Don't need to say much here.

NCAA: North Dakota has little choice but to change ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF Blog - Yahoo! Sports
For Fetch

2011 NBA draft: Marquette's Jimmy Butler finds a new home - ESPN
Homeless as a teen, Jimmy Butler lives out his hoop dreams with a new family.

Thank You, Sporting KC And US Soccer - The Daily Wiz
Our old "friend" KCSince88 had quite a week following both the US men's national team and Sporting KC. Give it a read, comment, and tell him it's ok to be a fan of soccer and Kansas athletics.

Former Jayhawks come together for charity basketball game - KansasCity.com
Recap from the game with Victor Ortiz and many Kansas basketball alumni.

KU's Morris twins dream of double-dip in Draft's first round | NBA.com
It was their agent, and of course they would have the same agent, who decided twins Marcus and Markieff Morris should not work out together for NBA teams. They need to be evaluated separately, Tony Dutt encouraged, and that isn't always possible if basketball operations staffers are on the sidelines trying to rub the double vision from their eyes.

Will's post about Joakim Soria not missing any bats this year led to a side conversation about whether or not he's throwing a cut fastball this year.  At first, I questioned if it was a classification issue because it's one of the first things that always pops up whenever Pitch F/X is says someone is throwing a new pitch.  Jeff Z shared this nice graphic from Brooks Baseball showing his pitches from his last outing.

via assets.sbnation.com

To my untrained eye, it looked like a fastball with less velocity.  Seemed like a cutter should have a slightly different spin axis. These are all in the same area, the pitch just moves a little slower.  So I took to twitter to get in contact with Pitch F/X guru Mike Fast.  He kindly replied with the following:

Soria throws 4 pitch types: fastball (call it a cutter if you want), changeup, slider, curve.  His fastball is normally ~91 mph.

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Even though the season has ended for the Jayhawks, the NCAA still feels it necessary to continue playing for some reason.  Guess all that money that went into designing the logo for Houston can't be wasted.  Anyway, the teams have arrived in Houston and are ready for the big show.  Some of us will skip the whole thing without the good guys to cheer on but some of us will continue to watch because we just can't turn away from college basketball.  Before the games begin though, I thought I'd go through the teams to help everyone decide which team to support. 

First up, the VCU Rams.  Not going to be a popular pick around the state of Kansas for obvious reasons.  Though I do think there might be a few legitimate reasons to back the Rams in Houston, hear me out before you start calling me names.  First, some people just like the Cinderella story.  Those people have the right to cheer however they'd like, they just  need to remember there's another low seed that qualifies and I'd recommend them first.  Another decent reason might be due to the hate VCU received on Selection Sunday.  The more they win, the worse the talking heads and anyone else that had an opinion on Sunday looks.  And lets face it, everybody loves seeing others with a little egg on their face.

There's a third and (to me) a much more compelling reason to cheer for VCU this weekend.  There's a certain team to the east that is looking for a coach and might be getting just a little desperate after this last week.  Shaka Smart has already put his name on many lists for the offseason coaching carousel but another win would just up the price a bit.  This could do great things for Kansas.  It would force the school to the east to pay just a little bit more to a coach that hasn't proven any recruiting chops and could use an insane run to set himself up for life.  Would anyone be scared of this coach getting a 7 year contract at 1.5 per in the Big 12?  In my opinion, bring him on.

Discussion of the other teams below the jump.

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