Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Flory Bidunga & Hunter Dickinson Dominate as Aggressive Kansas Jayhawks Wallop UCF Knights

Starting point is 00:00:00 They have a pulse. Kansas wins big on the road. Is Flory Badunga KU's best player? Is this going to be his only year in Kansas? You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hold on, Derek Johnson here. This is Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you to the everydayers catching each and every show.

Starting point is 00:00:32 And I hope you're weathering the storm right now. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page. And we're going to, on today's episode of Locked On Jayhawks, be discussing Floyd Badunga, who I think you can make a real case that he is KU's best player. Obviously, the role won't always be there to play as much or more than other players, but I don't know. I think we've seen a lot at this point. And then also, you won on the road for the first time in a while, and you walloped UCF

Starting point is 00:01:01 in the process. It wasn't just a close win on the road. You just absolutely decimated them in that and that you showed a lot of life and it was very impressive. So we'll get to that. We'll get to the game awards and we'll also finish up

Starting point is 00:01:13 with what's next for KU. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase with GameTime. Kansas 99, UCF 48. Everything worked for you

Starting point is 00:01:28 in this game. It was obviously when you win by that much, there's going to be a lot of things that go right for you, which they certainly did. I think the number that sums it up the most to me, Kansas won points in the paint 62 to 10. That is the largest sum in that category i think i've ever seen in a game and hunter dickinson was a big reason why he had 27 points and it felt like he didn't even play like the second half basically um i mean he had it's six in the second half but that was in eight minutes so like i mean he could have had 40 if they if they wanted him to but in a game where hunter dickinson was at really good i i mean hunter was fantastic in this game 27 points 12 of 17 nine rebounds in just 23 minutes of action

Starting point is 00:02:12 that's insane efficiency i come away from this game thinking the florida badunga was the best player on the court and the florida badunga is kansas's best player you know, it's one of those weird things where it's like, best player, but he's going to be your backup center? It's like, how does that work, right? And it's just like, it doesn't make sense, but it sort of just is to me. He played 21 minutes, he had 12 points, he was six of eight, he had five reboundsounds and he had a billion blocks basically give or take he was credited with six blocks i mean you could have convinced me he had nine or ten i i don't even know but it's just like with flory he just he changes the game when he is out there he is such an elite defender right and so with hunter you have this elite offensive weapon you have this elite

Starting point is 00:03:05 rebounder in hunter dickinson who in certain matchups is a good defender because he's big like in this matchup he was good uh defensively because they had another seven two big guys so you can match up with that but in other matchups like you know you look to what west virginia did he's not going to be the best defender there and with flory he's not nearly the offensive weapon that hunter is he doesn't have the the moves around the post, and he's still developing that stuff right now as a young player. But defensively, he changes the game, right? I think Hunter's probably your best offensive player. I guess you could argue Zeke Mayo as well, but I think consistently it'd probably be Hunter Dickinson. I think on the defensive end of the court, to me, it's not even a question.

Starting point is 00:03:41 And you have a player on your team in DeJuan Harris who won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year two years ago. And yet I think Flory is by far your best defensive player. Maybe not by far. Maybe that's a little over sound. Like KJ is a good defender too, right? But I think it's Flory. And when you look at the impact that a shot blocking center can have, it impacts every other position on the court, right? If you're a really good defender as a point guard, that's great. And it's and it's very helpful and certainly you know it's a good thing to have but it doesn't necessarily make life easier on the upon on your wing you know what i mean like guarding the other wing if you're a good shot blocking center that is coming over and help defense it makes all the other players better defenders right they can go for more steals they can cheat on things they can

Starting point is 00:04:23 know in the back of their mind i've got that guy to erase things on the inside but it's also the ability of flory to switch to i mean he's getting guarded and this happened in the west virginia game too but it happened in this one too where he's like switching onto a guard and he's staying with him he's staying in front of him and it it is unbelievable the way that he changes the game on the defensive end of the court and so i i really do think that flory is the best player on this team um and i don't know maybe this is like small sample size you're talking about really one good half a play against west virginia and then a good game here but it feels like thing it just feels like he's getting better as the season goes on too with young players and

Starting point is 00:04:59 i look to i don't know what we'll get into that one sequence again where he had like the block and the dunk, but like there are things happening in this game where I started to go, because really all along to this point, I've thought, okay, Flory's a good player, but also he's a 6'9 center, even though the wingspan is, you know, which I guess matters more, is off the charts, but he doesn't really shoot it. Like, is he really going to be able to be a first-run draft pick or something if he goes off to the NBA this year?

Starting point is 00:05:24 And watching today, if that continues, where he is that much of a game wrecker, a game changer, on the defensive end of the court with his blocking ability, his ability to switch and guard other players, and ability to rebound and dunk the basketball, yeah, he's probably a first-round pick. And the question becomes, is this going to be your only year of Flory? Now, again, that's a small, it's really one and a half games we're talking about here. But if that continues, right? I mean, we saw small sample size. It was really for Johnny Furphy. He went off in like January to mid February, and that was enough for him to go off to the NBA. And with Flory, he had higher prospect pedigree coming in um now the thing with flory that he has going for him is that next year with hunter dickinson gone he can be the star of the show

Starting point is 00:06:09 right and like what does that look like what does that do for boosting draft stock and i don't mean to turn this into a floyd padunga you know draft episode or something like that but point being like i think really for the for the first time this season it has really started to cross my mind what if this is his only year in lawrence because the rapid ascension we are seeing is incredible but for now enjoy what you can you hope you get another year out of him uh but just enjoy it while you can because that dude is so fun to watch and he was absolutely incredible today as was really all of kansas and it is starting to remind me a little bit of that uconn team a couple years ago i not necessarily the

Starting point is 00:06:43 whole team i just mean in terms of the big men um If you remember, the UConn team won the title two years ago, so their first title. Then Adonis Nogo, who was your classic college big, doesn't end up getting drafted into the NBA afterwards, but he was the final four MLB, had good production, was a good scorer on the inside. But the backup center, Donovan Klingin, was the guy who was probably the better center. I mean, we saw what Klingin did last year when he got to be the starter, and we saw how high Klingin went in the draft and stuff like that. And that's what it's starting to feel like you have the ability to do here now with Hunter and Flory in a very real way.

Starting point is 00:07:17 And that was great to see. But, yeah, I mean, this was just, I think, really nice to see because obviously Kansas wins this game big and it would have been the one thing I would have been you win a game like this big you're going to be happy with it no matter what but if you would have won this game big because you just got bonkers hot from three and they couldn't make a three I think that's a little bit different of a feeling than how this one went we're like yes you did shoot threes really well kins was 9 of 23 that's 39 they didn't shoot threes great they were 23 seven of 30 um but like this game to me was mostly about aggressiveness and that was a big question we had right was was how aggressive can this team be

Starting point is 00:07:56 right why are they not better uh crashing the glass and getting offensive rebounds um are they going to come out motivated right the last time we saw them lose at Creighton, the next game at Missouri, they came out flat in the first half of the West Virginia game. You came out flat. That was a big question coming into this one. You held UCF to 21%. Yes, UCF probably missed some more shots than they're used to, but Kansas was playing really good defense.

Starting point is 00:08:19 A lot of those were very well contested. You forced four more turnovers. You let 18- three in points off turnovers. That's where the aggressiveness paid off. The rebounding battle, not even close, 63 to 32. Now, obviously, they missed way more shots, so it's going to be easier for you to grab rebounds, but Kansas grabbed 22 offensive rebounds. Kansas, in a game where they missed 41 shots, grabbed 22 offensive rebounds. So more than half the time they missed their shot, they got the offensive rebound. That is ultimate ultimate aggressiveness and for a team who has Hunter Dickinson who's gigantic

Starting point is 00:08:48 Floyd Padunga who is just this unbelievable athlete KJ Adams who you know has never consistently been a great rebounder for Kansas but it's always felt like he should have the potential to be a better rebounder because I know the wingspan isn't great for him and he's technically an undersized center but like Jalen Wilson didn't have a great wingspan, and he was a great rebounder, and this is what you're expecting from KJ. He had nine rebounds. He had nine rebounds.

Starting point is 00:09:12 That's going to work every time, right? So you see the aggressiveness in those areas. You see the aggressiveness in the points in the paint, what I mentioned earlier, 62 to 10, outscoring them in points in the paint. You see the aggressiveness on defense. You don't just have to be the aggressor on the glass and on the offensive end you can do it on defense and they did it with 12 blocks in this game and then beyond that not only were they

Starting point is 00:09:32 aggressive they i mean having 30 assists to 10 turnovers the finesse part of the game and the three-point shooting that's why you win by 51 points you were ultra ultra aggressive you played great defense. You just mastered really everything in this game. And I think it was really impressive, the overall performance for KU. Does this absolve them from being a team who all of a sudden I trust on the road now? Like, they're still 4-10 over last season and this season on the road. So I'm not just going to completely absolve them and be like, okay, well, now they're fine.

Starting point is 00:10:04 The road issues are fixed and they're going to win 50% of the rest on the road so i'm not just going to completely absolve them and be like okay well now they're fine the road issues are fixed and they're going to win out you know 50 of the rest of the road game no not quite to there but it's a good first step it's a great first step forward to being better there and to being on that path so that was certainly positive um and in a weird way too a game where zeke mayo only has six points on three of 10 shooting, it makes you feel even better that you scored 99 points because it wasn't just about Zeke Mayo being bonkers hot. And like, you know, there's going to be nights where Zeke's hitting him. There's going to be nights where he's not. And so you showed that you can do it in other ways.

Starting point is 00:10:35 Obviously, Ryland Griffin going off. That was good to see. 14 points, four of four from three. That shot looked pure from him. You did get double digits from AJ Storer, which was good. 11 points, though. I don't really know what to fully make of that because it felt like a lot of that was in garbage time at the end of the game um and it definitely seemed like bill self was ready to kind of move past him a little more in the rotation and obviously we saw shack more start

Starting point is 00:10:57 the game and i thought shack more was good for kansas he had six points six assists three rebounds 20 minutes of play um just gives him another ball handler. And it feels like, you know, that's what Bill Self is saying I want to do at this point more. I want to play more three-guard lineups and more two-big lineups with the three guards. And, you know, if you're just looking at the sample size of the second half against West Virginia and then this game against UCF,

Starting point is 00:11:21 it's been a pretty darn good 60 minutes of basketball for KU. All right, let's get to our game awards next. I imagine we're going to hear more about Flor Badunga and Hunter Dickinson. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Big upsets to game-winning drives. The NFL playoffs are better with FanDuel because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. That's $200 in bonus bets win or lose. The FanDuel app gives you everything you need for live bets, same-game parlays, and so much more.

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Starting point is 00:12:36 All right, our game trophies for this one. We're going to go with best moment of the game. I mean, the whole game itself was awesome. There were so many great highlight plays and moments, but like to me it's not even a debate what the best moment was it was that play second half florida doing up blocks what was like an elbow jump shot runs up to the ball shows his speed gets to the ball dribbles then does like a i don't know if you'd call it like a Euro step to get in and dunks the basketball. That was an unbelievable display of everything of why I think Floyd Padunga is this team's at

Starting point is 00:13:12 least most talented player and their best player. And I mentioned this on Twitter, but there was a moment early in Joel Embiid's career at Kansas. Maybe it was like halfway through. Maybe it was like Iowa State in January. I don't even know. He pulled out like the dream shake. And in itself, oh, a big man doing a dream shake. It happens.

Starting point is 00:13:37 You know what I mean? But for Joel Embiid, who was a relatively raw basketball player at that point in time, I don't think he was playing basketball for more than a handful of years before Kansas. And to see the ascension he went on, and then you have a player who is more raw doing something like that and, like, looking really good doing it. It was this moment of, okay, this guy's special.

Starting point is 00:13:58 Like, they have something real here. That, like, this ascension this player is having, you could see the superstardom with Joel Embiid. And I don't mean to say Floridunga is Joel Embiid and that he's going to be a, you know see the superstardom with Joel Embiid. And I don't mean to say Flory Badunga is Joel Embiid and that he's going to be a future NBA MVP and all this sort of stuff. Very different games. I think with Joel, you saw a little bit more maybe scoring potential possibly and that sort of thing. But I think from the defensive end, it is very special what Flory brings to the table. And this, that play, that sequence, I guess you would say for me, was kind of that realization of, oh, like you knew Flory Badunga

Starting point is 00:14:31 was a high-level recruit and prospect, and I thought he's played well up to this point regardless. But like there's a difference between doing those things and being listed as a high-ranking recruit or NBA draft prospect and doing, you know, playing recruit or NBA draft prospect and doing, you know, playing well, there's a difference from that and doing something that makes people's jaws drop, right? And you don't get to see that every day. And that was a moment that made your jaw drop. And that was a moment for me where I was like, okay, is this guy going to be around more

Starting point is 00:14:59 than a year in Lawrence? Is this a guy who is your best player on the team? Is this a guy who can do things that nobody else on the team can do? And, you know, he was just a moment to realize, like, how special he can be and how quickly he is getting to being that already, which is pretty incredible. The worst moment? I normally do this for every show, but, like, what is there? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know, I guess. No, I don there you know what i mean like i don't know i guess no i don't even want to pick one i don't know you want me 51 points i don't think i need to pick a worse moment okay um it didn't count but it would have been a really sick block and honestly i i originally had this listed as would have been the block of the game if it did count but then flory happened and i wasn't able to say that. But that KJ Adams block, that was clean, man.

Starting point is 00:15:46 That was a good block, and that would have been a really good one as well. The I love you of the game, that goes to Bill Self, because Bill Self gets a technical. Maybe that's the worst moment of the game, Bill Self getting a technical early on. And they showed him on the screen afterwards, after he got the technical, and he mouthed something to the official that was

Starting point is 00:16:05 like blank you and i think we can only assume the part of the blank was him saying i love you're saying i love you to the ref so uh that one goes to bill self i'm not sure what else he would have said in that moment um why is this the game plan award you know the full game plan great but why if you remember at the end of the West Virginia game, KU goes down to KJ Adams to try to take, like, a fadeaway jump shot at the end of the game to try to win the game against West Virginia. At the end of their first half play was another baseball pass from Hunter to try to get a one-on-one for KJ Adams,

Starting point is 00:16:37 what looked similar that he was going to have, like, a fadeaway jump shot. Why is that part of the game plan? I don't know. I don't know. But, yeah, maybe that's also the worst part of the game. I don't know i don't know but uh yeah maybe that's also the worst part of the game i don't know uh offensive mvp that goes to hunter dickinson 27 points in 23 minutes on 12 of 17 shooting uh remarkable he also had four offensive rebounds so adding on that end of things he had an assist as well um he was a plus 29 in the game overall

Starting point is 00:17:02 which uh we'll get to our plus minus king of the game here, which I mean, I can go more into Hunter. He was outstanding in this game. But yeah, I think you'd know it. And it was pretty obvious. So the plus minus king of the game, you might be thinking, okay, well, yeah, Hunter Dickinson. He was plus 29. Floyd Badunga was up there. He was plus 24, plus 28 from Ryland Griffin, plus 33 from KJ Adams, which was second.

Starting point is 00:17:28 The winner of the plus minus award was Shaquille Moore, plus 35. So in a game where he's not necessarily going to fill up the stat sheet, doing some winning things for you, providing another good defender out there. And obviously, KU's defense was really good against UCF. So I found that very interesting. And then the defensive MVP, I mean, it has to go to Florida, right? I mean, I guess if you really want to do like you could argue KJ Adams because you look at UCF and everybody for UCF really struggled.

Starting point is 00:17:55 But Keyshawn Hall, who was like their leading scorer, went four of 17 from the floor and KJ was his primary defender. And I think KJ did really good there. Plus, KJ had five defensive rebounds. He had two blocks himself and what could have easily been a third but it is Flory Flory was your defensive MVP he had six blocks uh he just changed the way the game was played on that end of the court and uh so yeah Flory Padunga wins defensive MVP and then Swedish stroke award that goes to Rylan Griffin four for four from three the shot looked about as pure as it has all season long.

Starting point is 00:18:25 Hopefully that's a sign of good things to come for Ryland Griffin and where his playing time and opportunities and impact on the team goes. What's next for KU? We'll get to that on the other side. This is Locked on Jayhawks. And this episode is brought to you by GameTime, where you can get tickets to comedy events. You can get it to the college football playoff, right,

Starting point is 00:18:49 with the new 12-team college football playoff. Incredible experiences that are going on that are bringing fans together like never before. And I'm already thinking about the semifinal games, that they're probably going to be pretty sweet. Like if you're a fan of one of those teams, boom. If you just happen to be in the area, boom, probably be a fun thing to go to.

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Starting point is 00:19:52 Game Time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price. Guaranteed. Alright, finishing things up, and thanks for joining us on today's episode of Locked on Jayhawks. On Tuesday, we're going to have an episode on J.J. Dunnigan, who is the class of 2026 prospect in-state,

Starting point is 00:20:13 supposed to be a really good player, three-star DB, who's going to be a two-way player for the Jayhawks. So we're going to get into that and maybe some transfer portal stuff, too, on Tuesday's episode. Wednesday, we'll get to our KU Arizona State preview. then we'll have KU Cincinnati preview later in the week we'll have recaps for both of those so make sure you're subscribed to the show anywhere you get your podcast uh here with Locked on Jayhawks now what is next for KU it is that Arizona State game that is on Wednesday I think it's at seven o'clock I for some reason thought it was at eight o'clock but at

Starting point is 00:20:45 eight o'clock eastern time apparently so that'll be at seven against arizona state back in the field house arizona state hasn't uh been very good so far this season um they've been one of the worst teams in the big 12 if you're looking at like ken bomb and i say all that and it makes it sound like they're like you know eight and five or something like that but they're still 10 and three it's just like they're ranked 57th on ken bomb which like you know in the big 12 is one of the lower ends um now the only teams i i guess they are more middle of the pack that's probably overselling it right i guess maybe ucf is down there um i don't know kansas state colorado utah oklahoma state so they're more middle of the pack still this is going to be one that you should win if you're kansas this is going to be one that

Starting point is 00:21:31 you're going to be favored to win take care of home you you have already lost one home game don't lose another home game for the rest of the season so you have that and then if you're kansas after that it is a big road trip uh at cincinnati on saturday and then you're at Iowa State on Wednesday. I do like that you have some extra time kind of between those two on the road where it's not just that quick-fire turnaround of two road games where you can, I don't know, maybe it makes it a little bit tougher to get picked off twice. But I think if you go two and one in that stretch, I mean, if we want to

Starting point is 00:21:59 throw the K-State game at home, which is the one after that, if you go three and one in that stretch, I think you're okay with that, right? You're at TCU after that, then home with Houston, then back home with UCF. So if we include those games, I mean, if you go, what is that, seven games? If you go five and two, I think that's okay. If you go six and one, you're going to feel really good

Starting point is 00:22:18 about where you are at that point in time. That'll do it for this episode of Locked on J-Ox. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page. Like I said, back tomorrow to talk a little JJ Dunn again, KU football, transfer portal, all that sort of stuff. Fun stuff. We'll have a KU Arizona State preview later in this week.

Starting point is 00:22:34 Make sure to subscribe to the show and stay safe with the weather out there.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Flory Bidunga & Hunter Dickinson Dominate as Aggressive Kansas Jayhawks Wallop UCF Knights

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