It's a damn shame.:banghead:

Fact...He constructed it....he owns it.
I just feel the players own some of it too.....
Hustle, working hard, intensity, being proud of the name on the jersey.
Not sure any of the starters have those attributes....

I see this a lot, but I don't really get the logic. "Said team has underwhelmed, so the leading scorer and rebounder must be the problem."

It's especially confusing because we've seen what the team looks like without Dickinson. The blowout loss to a mediocre Cincinnati team in KC last year was the worst I've seen a KU team look in my lifetime.

Does anyone actually think you could replace Dickinson with the average center and improve those records greatly?

These last two years haven't gone as hoped, but there's no doubt that things would've been much worse if Dickinson had been on the bench.

Some of Self’s best corner stone players were guys who saw limited playing time early then really took off in years 2, 3, and even 4.

That just isn’t reality anymore with the portal and NIL. Guys who stick around through modest playing time will be guys like Harris and Adams.

While Self owns this season, it’s hard to fault him when so much of what made him a great coach is suddenly different.

You think Withey just waits for 2012?

What about Frank Mason? You think he stays patient behind Tharpe.

What about Thomas Robinson? You think some team wouldn’t pay him a brinks truck to not sit behind the Morris Twins?

This list goes on and on. It’s just a different world.

Self either figures it out or this is what the program will be.

I don't think we would be much worse or much better with Flory playing all of minutes and Dickinson not on the team. I don't think it makes any difference. We would probably be better actually, but Flory would foul too much.

By playing through these mistakes though he would get better and better over the course of the year.

By kind of hiding him I hope this is a blessing in disguise and we get him next year. I hope Self buries him even more this year.

Considering KJ would still be starting on said team and you'd be removing the team's best offensive player (by far) with no real replacement, I don't see how you could possibly think that.

And you aren't hiding Flory from NBA scouts, they've already figured out who and what he is if they were watching the Houston game tape.

How's KJ getting a 5th year?

So replace the guy who leads the team in scoring, while being doubled/tripled constantly, with a raw freshman who can't shoot and doesn't draw double teams, and you'd be better?

You seriously believe this?

Yes.

I would replace KJ before Dickinson but Self will never do that. Perhaps Self will get angry with Hunters antics. That would be fun.

One has a much higher ceiling.

That is our only chance to actually be what we call...good.

I was referring to the hypothetical of this year's team without Dickinson, but check the tweet I posted yesterday from Jon Rothstein for that answer.

2025-2026
Darryn Peterson
Elmarko Jackson (Houston Quinten Grimes except with more athleticism!)
Zeke Mayo (pray to the gods for a 5th season of eligibility. He is wonderful)
Bryson Tiller
Flory Bidunga

Zach Clemence!

What else do you need?

KJ Adams

He and Bronny will be taking the NBA by storm.

I don't think the hypothetical "maybe Dickinson starts giving a shit" ceiling is higher without him, but can't imagine a team that wasn't built around him would be any worse, and of course would have quite a bit of room for improvement.

It's a stretch for sure to say benching him right now would make the team better... if he walked off the team to never return, I'd guess the end result might be slightly better in terms of knowing you now have to figure it out without the slug on the court (as opposed to eating up minutes without him whenever he kicks a player or needs to catch his breath from walking down the court, game to game)... but again, you've somewhat built the roster around him, so you're just stuck making it work since there's generally no "what if my $4 million center plays well below his supposed potential most of the time" contingency.

Another reminder again that he's been statistically the 3rd best player in college basketball this season and that the team falls apart completely any time he's off the court. If that's playing below his supposed potential most of the time, I wonder what that makes what everyone else on the roster is doing.