I'm probably a bigger Coit fan than most, but he gets picked on because of his size.

He probably also faces some minutes limitations because of defensive inflexibility (size).

Yeah, and those players have so much more of a connection to KU... there wasn't ever any question Self's first recruits and that 2008 team wanted a NC more than anything.

And you know any one-and-done has both eyes on NBA draft position, which I've always been fine with, but with it comes expectations of still putting the team first and of course... I don't want to watch Trae Young be a 30% 3 point shooter and give no ****s about the team as long as he gets his stats.

And now you add the transfer portal and NIL... meh. Now you're here for a paycheck, and if you are here to win a NC, are you going to get sad if you get bounced early and go elsewhere. :shrug:

It's just a lot of shouting at clouds for saying this team is just very uninspired, which doesn't mean that's how it'll always be forever, but it's not longer that far removed from the NBA, except the NBA has a ton more talent.

Question for me about college basketball is will kids ever get to the point of college football where they go "I'm going to sit out the tourney to not hurt my draft position"? Or will that not be a thing with NIL?

I was just thinking about that while watching the game last night. ESPN plus, B12 expansion, NIL, all of those factor into how this is just not the same.

Plus, we have some players that are just limited and/or soft. It feels a lot like the Dedric Lawson team(s). I don't expect this team to do much in March. Of course, it was about this time of year in 2022 that I said the exact same thing. So, I guess the positive thing is that it is possible to change for the better. I just have a really hard time envisioning that right now for this team.

Hopefully NIL contracts would specify tournament play, but no idea if that's a thing.

Let's not beat around the bush, many aren't watching as closely because the team isn't as good as it used to be under Self in this era. It's really as simple as that. If they were playing great and up to their talent level, the NIL/transfer portal stuff wouldn't matter. But they're not. Self himself also appears to be mailing it in (there's literally no justification for an NBA player in Flory getting benched for someone as limited as KJ and on some level he must know that).

That's just normal, it's not like we all don't detach ourselves somewhat from our struggling teams. It's abundantly clear how the season is ending for this group despite having a significant amount of talent, so I'm not as emotionally invested myself. I do believe there are different roster iterations among this group of players that could work to contend, but I have no expectation that we'll see those at this point.

There's no beating around the bush, of course that's what it is and what everyone is saying... if the team hadn't looked like they were mailing it in for long stretches the past couple seasons, people wouldn't be asking if it's related to NIL, transfer portal, etc.

There's potentially also some carryover of the Chiefs' success here when it comes to not caring so much about the regular season, too (and of course the recent Natty), plus conference expansion and playing dumb UCF on a Tuesday night... but yeah it's obvious if they were worth watching most nights, everyone here would be doing so.

Ultimately yes, but I think all those other things listed are why the team isn’t as good.

The conference streak kept pressure on the team to perform through what would otherwise be meaningless games.

One and dones make it harder to keep high level talent.

NIL attracts talent away constantly and obscures why a player chose a program.

Transfer portal eliminates any required commitment from a player to work through their issues.

Then, keep in mind, Self was “raised” as a coach during a completely different era. It’s hard to imagine a coach being elite then and now.

The next great coaches are going to be “raised” during this era. The older ones likely won’t be able to completely reinvent everything that made them successful. I’d wager most won’t even want to.

Flory is ****ing good. He might be the difference between a second round exit and sweet 16

I didn't watch a second of last night's game

Let's call it what it is....a lot of KU fans are spoiled, entitled babies.

People are crying their eyes out over the unbearable fate of having to endure a 2 or 3 seed team. Let that sink in.

Charmin SOFT

Who are these "people"? Nearest I can tell in here nobody has even mentioned seeding in the tourney. Although I haven't been following the thread during games much.

Get rid of the transfer portal. Go back to sitting out a year unless your coach leaves/fired.

I don't think that is it. This team is preseason #1 and I planned no trips around the team like I normally do. Years before I went to Champions Classic or Florida games.