Kansas should win the Big 12 again next year for the 11th straight year.

They'll lose Andrew Wiggins, and more than likely Embiid, although he is taking quite some time to think about the decision.

My starting lineup:

Conner Frankamp
Wayne Selden Jr
Jamari Traylor
Cliff Alexander (incoming 5*)
Perry Ellis

Bench:
Kelly Oubre (incoming 5*)
Frank Mason
Naadir Tharpe
Brannen Greene

Akron Zips- Return a lot. Lost our best wing player in Quincy Diggs. Won't do anything without an at least serviceable PG.

OSU- Not good.

@SethDavisHoops: Kansas announces press conference on Weds with Bill Self and Joel Embiid.

See ya.

Given his back injury and projected a top 3 pick, would there be any consideration at all for Embiid to return? I mean, I get it if some fringe guys with great potential think about it (Marcus Smart last year). Not a guy coming off a back injury and huge stock.

Azubuike24;1602780 wrote:Given his back injury and projected a top 3 pick, would there be any consideration at all for Embiid to return? I mean, I get it if some fringe guys with great potential think about it (Marcus Smart last year). Not a guy coming off a back injury and huge stock.

Yeah, there's really no reason for him to stay. But he loves college and loves Lawrence, and has made no indication (including during the season saying he doesn't consider himself a OAD type of guy) that he will be in Lawrence for a year and dip.

I mean obviously we all expect him to leave, and he should. But he's certainly thinking about it.

After coming up just six games short of cutting down the nets this year, Duke should be even better next season. While Rodney Hood is all but gone, the general vibe around the program is that Jabari Parker will return. The Blue Devils also bring in the top recruiting class in the country, including immediate upgrades at point guard and center which should give Duke the balanced attack it sorely lacked this year on both ends of the floor.

My starters:

Tyus Jones
Rasheed Suliamon
Jabari Parker
Amile Jefferson
Jahlil Okafor

Key Bench Guys:

Quinn Cook
Matt Jones
Justise Winslow
Grayson Allen
Marshall Plumlee

Duke will be a lock for preseason top five with Parker, probably top ten without. Also holding out hope for 5-star power forward/center Myles Turner. If Duke can steal him from Kansas, then he'll start at the 4 and give Duke the premier front court in the country (with Parker). God that'd be great.

wildcats20;1602779 wrote:@SethDavisHoops: Kansas announces press conference on Weds with Bill Self and Joel Embiid.

See ya.

Shit. Turner to KU just became a formality.

Indiana - Should be much better than this year. Lose a ton, return enough

Starting line-up

Yogi Ferrell
James Blackmon (5*)
Troy Williams
Devin Davis
Hanner Mosquera-Perea

Bench:
Stan Robinson
Robert Johnson (Top 50)
Max Hoetzel (3* shooter)

Id also expect at least 1 more transfer/commit. Hopefully a big so Hanner isnt the only option at the 5. But, I think Indiana will be MUCH better served with the smaller rotation as well as the smaller line-up. Crean, despite getting his bigs drafted high, has no clue how utilize skilled big men lol

Sources calling Embiid to the NBA. No surprise.

BGSU is lost Orr as coach, so that is good!

reclegend22;1602788 wrote:After coming up just six games short of cutting down the nets this year

This might be the most hilarious "make things sound positive" phrasing about a first-round NCAA loss I've ever seen in my life! Kudos! Ohio State only came up six games short, too, and by not making the tournament, Ohio only came seven games short!

reclegend22;1602788 wrote:After choking in the tourney this year, and losing to Mercer... MERCER. LOL! I mean, hey... at least they're not Lehigh

FIFY

To look at teams I follow:

OHIO: After missing out on cutting the nets by a mere tournament invitation and seven games, Ohio did great by replacing Jim Christian with Saul Phillips. They also graduated a lot of their team and, as of now, return Maurice Ndour, Stevie Taylor and a bunch of guys who will need to get a lot better really quickly.

OHIO STATE: They did even better, as they only missed out on cutting the nets by six games, making them as close to being a champion as Duke was! They could be the same sort of painfully frustrating team to watch next year as they tended to be this year or they could be better. All has to do with how well their freshmen are at hitting the ground running. That's been an overall weakness with a lot of guys in past years and a big part of the reason this year was so frustrating, as they've had a lot of good recruits who just sort of stagnate at a certain level (like how Williams is still horrible about consistent effort, Thompson's still a great jumper who often disappears for infinitely long stretches and Ross never blossomed into a consistent star player like we were hoping).

They graduate or lose four players in Della Valle (shrug; supposed good shooter who hit 30% of his 3s; whatever); Ross (best offensive threat, but never reached that "next level" I was thinking he would); Smith (sort of like Ross on a smaller scale; I was hoping he'd wind up having similar value to Lighty, but he never got that far) and Craft (will hurt on defense).

Keys will be:

1. Implementation of freshmen, redshirt freshman Kam Williams and transfer Anthony Lee. Lee gives the team someone who doesn't suck at the 4/5 position. The freshmen will have opportunities to contribute right away with how the team is losing 3 starters and its 8/9 man. And with all the various holes the team showed this year (interior play, long-range shooting, ball movement), there are plenty of ways in which these guys can quickly become very valuable on the court if they're ready for prime time.

2. Scott manning the point full-time. He was highly regarded out of high school, but hasn't been particularly notable in three years. Now that PG is HIS job, as opposed to him and Craft often essentially sharing the same role on offense, there's at least a hope that it being "his team" will light a fire under him. He needs to at least be competent at distributing the ball with enough offense to at least keep defenses honest.

3. Someone has to shoot from long range. This team sucked from 3 worse than I thought possible, which wasn't good thanks to the awesome offensive style of "pass the ball around the perimeter and chuck something up when the shot clock gets low" style of play they reverted to every damn time you thought they might be finally turning the fucking corner. Someone needs to step up and be a viable, consistent threat from behind the arc.

4. And maybe a bit more work on free throws. When you seem determined to be in close games every time out, it really doesn't pay to only hit 66.7% of your freebies. That's just counterproductive, especially when the guy with the best percentage was a freshman who hardly ever saw action in crunch time.

Heretic;1602932 wrote:This might be the most hilarious "make things sound positive" phrasing about a first-round NCAA loss I've ever seen in my life! Kudos! Ohio State only came up six games short, too, and by not making the tournament, Ohio only came seven games short!

Haha. At least this guy gets it. Unlike others on this page.

[Enter more Mercer jokes here!]

reclegend22;1602996 wrote:Haha. At least this guy gets it. Unlike others on this page.

[Enter more Mercer jokes here!]

4-time National Champion. Loses to Mercer in round 1. LOL

sleeper;1602998 wrote:4-time National Champion. Loses to Mercer in round 1. LOL

Like your team did any better?

SportsAndLady;1603011 wrote:Like your team did any better?

Dayton DID make it further than Mercer, (Elite 8)... but Dayton is no Stanford.

ernest_t_bass;1603018 wrote:Dayton DID make it further than Mercer, (Elite 8)... but Dayton is no Stanford.

Who gives a fuck how far the team you lost to went?

That would be like if I was hating on Wichita state for losing to Kentucky.

SportsAndLady;1603011 wrote:Like your team did any better?

They did about as well as Kansas. Looking forward to having you root for Kansas football this fall!

sleeper;1603026 wrote:They did about as well as Kansas. Looking forward to having you root for Kansas football this fall!

You're making fun of Duke for being upset in the first round when your team was upset in the first round. 👍👍

SportsAndLady;1603027 wrote:You're making fun of Duke for being upset in the first round when your team was upset in the first round. 

Duke claims to be a national basketball power but can't even get past Mercer in the first round. Ohio State is a known football power and still fields a competitive hoops team that does as well as a so called national power.

Again, looking forward to you rooting for Kansas football in the fall! You know since you are such a big Kansas fan.

sleeper;1603034 wrote:Duke claims to be a national basketball power but can't even get past Mercer in the first round. Ohio State is a known football power and still fields a competitive hoops team that does as well as a so called national power.

Again, looking forward to you rooting for Kansas football in the fall! You know since you are such a big Kansas fan.

Who cares? You're making fun of a team for an outcome that was the exact same as your team's.

SportsAndLady;1603037 wrote:Who cares? You're making fun of a team for an outcome that was the exact same as your team's.

I'm not mad. OSU was terrible this year in basketball and I didn't expect anything out of them in the tournament. DUKE claims to be a national power and lost to Mercer.

How's Kansas football looking this year? LOL. We all know you are a fake bandwagon fan; that is your legacy.

sleeper;1603039 wrote:I'm not mad. OSU was terrible this year in basketball and I didn't expect anything out of them in the tournament. DUKE claims to be a national power and lost to Mercer.

How's Kansas football looking this year? LOL. We all know you are a fake bandwagon fan; that is your legacy.

Not saying you're mad. Just pointing out how idiotic you sound. You sound like an idiot. Idiot.

Isn't a "fake bandwagon fan" a double negative? Wouldn't that just make me a fan?