Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Which Kansas Jayhawks Are More Likely to Be Undefeated in December: KU Football or KU Basketball?

Episode Date: December 6, 2022

More on the Kansas Jayhawks being in the Liberty Bowl against Arkansas and not Missouri. Who is more likely to go undefeated in December: KU Football or KU Basketball? Expectations vs Reality for Kansas Basketball to begin the year. Plus, Whose Stat Line is it Anyway with Nick Schwerdt.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!SimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnCollege to learn more.Omaha SteaksOmaha Steaks is a gift from the heart – a gift that will be remembered with every unforgettable bite. Order with complete confidence today knowing you’re ordering the very best. Visit OmahaSteaks.com use promo code LOCKEDON at checkout to get that EXTRA $30 OFF your order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, going to be joined by Nick Schwert. We're going to go over some KU football with them being in the Liberty. We're also going to discuss some KU basketball and then whose stat line is it anyway to finish off here on Locked on Jayhawks. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek John. You can hear me as well on Rock Chalk Sports Talk, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 on KLWN in Lawrence.

Thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first and every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcasts. And joined today by Nick Schwert. You can check out with Cody and Gold on 610 in Kansas City. You can also hear him with the Wave in the Wheat podcast. And on today's edition of the show, we're going to start off with some KU football, Jayhawks in the Liberty Bowl. We're going to get to some KU basketball and then finish off with whose stat line is it anyway?

First, this episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by Omaha Steaks. It's a gift from the heart, a gift that will be remembered with every unforgettable bite. Order with complete confidence today, knowing you're ordering the very best. Visit omahasteaks.com, use promo code LOCKEDON at checkout to get an extra $30 off your order. So, Nick, KU's playing in Liberty Bowl. I don't know what you think about this. Obviously there was the whole Missouri thing that added into this.

There was the side of it where, you know, maybe it would have been more beneficial to the alumni bases to be in one of the other bowls, but also you're in a bowl game. You're six and six. Can't be too choosy. Get the Arkansas matchup. I don't know, just from an overall, or maybe if you want to pinpoint something what are kind of your your big

thoughts from from the bowl game and then the selection for ku here yeah i mean i keep going back to the conversations we had before this season where if you would have said hey this team's going to a bowl game i would have i would have probably not believed you so the idea that now all of a sudden i'm going to be picky about it and say, well, come on, couldn't you have found one with a warmer climate or a little bit closer to donors and alumni?

No, I don't care at all. I think it's cool that you're going to play an sec school. Like you're going to play a team with some, you know, uh, regional ties, you know,

right. There's a lot of people from Arkansas in the area. So I think that's pretty cool and i mean the big thing for me is that you had a chance to play missouri and you're not i know that that's kind of running counterintuitive to the idea that you don't get to be picky with this but we had an opportunity to restart one of the oldest and best rivalries in college football two years before it's actually going to, and the powers that be decided that,

you know what, let's wait a couple more years. I feel like all the arguments against that were pretty flimsy. Like all the reasonings why you wouldn't want to do it. Well, there's a basketball game that day as if there, there would be the first university to ever have a men's basketball game and a football game on the same day.

We don't want to take it. It happened last year. It happened last year. It happened last year. Clearly last year with Missouri. So the idea that that or that you don't want to share the bowl revenue. Are you kidding me? Like, hey, I get it. I'm well aware there's money involved in college football.

Did you know that before people say, well, they'd have to share the money? There's a it's the only reason we do any of this college athletics is for games like that. Kansas, Missouri. I don't care if it's in Columbia. I don't care if it's in Lawrence, if it's in Kansas city,

or if it's in Memphis, any opportunity you have to add to that storied history. I'm a, I'm all in favor of, and especially being able to do it in a bowl game. That would have been so cool. And the idea that now it's going to be Kansas and Arkansas, it feels like a letdown when, if you would have just told me initially

that the matchup was Kansas and Arkansas from the beginning, I would have said, wow, that's a great matchup. Sign me up. Well, when I look at the bowl game now, there's definitely like, there's less stress for the fan base because it's now more of a celebration almost where it's like if you lose the game, it's like whatever. You went to a bowl. If you're playing Missouri, it's pins and needles. Like we better win the game if you're in it, right?

And so I do think that makes this bowl now a lot different in terms of the takeaways where, you know, obviously if they win the game, that's great. It can be a springboard for next season. I even wonder if you do win the bowl game and you look impressive, you're 7-6, and let's say you bring back, I don't know, 18 starters next season, would they be receiving votes in the preseason poll? But that's a story for another day. As far as what we can take away from the bowl game, outside of just winning the game,

is there something that would make you feel best about where this team is headed next season besides just the result of the team score? Yeah, I think it would be Jalen Daniels returning to the form that we saw the first month and a half of the season when he looked like a legitimate Heisman candidate, when he looked like a top 5-10 quarterback in the country. Maybe that's just not going to happen, right? Maybe that was a flash in the pan that he just started the season red hot. Defenses didn't have the scout yet, and he was taking advantages of opportunities. But if he can give you a glimpse of that against an SEC defense, against a team from a different conference that's going to have a month to scout him

effectively, that would give you a ton of confidence that, oh, okay, he still has that in him. That wasn't just a cool little fun story to start the season. He can still be that player because I think right now there is a level of uncertainty that he still has that just because of the way he's looked since he came back. And I think it's important to remember you're talking about a separated shoulder in his throwing shoulder. I have no idea how healthy he is, but I guess the flip side of that argument would be, well, now you get three weeks right to rest and get right.

And I would assume however healthy he's been, he's going to be feeling better heading into that game down in Memphis. Yeah. I think it's interesting too, because both coat or both quarterbacks, it's the same thing. KJ Jefferson, I don't know what his injury was, but it was a shoulder injury, and he missed two games.

He played the last two games, just like Jalen did, and now maybe you look at two dual-threat guys who are going to be back next season that could have really explosive seasons, and that'll certainly be a storyline headed into next year if one of them goes off for this game. Here's a fun question for you. We're going to get to some KU basketball in a second here. Who has a better chance of going undefeated in the month of December?

KU football, KU basketball. Well, how many games does KU basketball have in the month of December? I know they play Missouri on Saturday. That will be a close line. Then they play Indiana, a game which they'll probably be favored in only because the games at Allen Fieldhouse, Harvard, and Oklahoma State. So you've got two games that'll probably be three to five point spreads in these next

two. So I'm going to have to take Kansas football. I should have kept it there. Yeah, I'm going to have to take football. You only have one opportunity, but the level of competition is going to be fairly even. And I think with Kansas, you've got two really tough games followed by Harvard,

which is very winnable. And then Oklahoma state will see you should win that game as well, but it's gotta be football, right? I think you could make a case the other way, right? If, if you were putting a percentage on, on KU to beat football, right? I think you could make a case the other way, right? If you were putting a percentage on KU to beat Arkansas,

you're probably looking around 40, 45% for them to win the game. And so if I told you what are the chances KU makes it out of that schedule in basketball at 4-0, I think you could reasonably say 50%. I don't know. I mean, I have more confidence in Kansas football right now than I do Kansas basketball. It's all relative. I don't think Kansas football is a top 20 team in the country

like I do with Kansas, but basketball. But at least I know who they are. I know how Kansas football plays. I know how they want to win games. I know what they look like at their best. I'm not sure I can answer any of those questions for the basketball team right now. No,

but you know, we'll, we'll get to this in a second. I wonder if that's just kind of par for course where we're at, which to your point, maybe does make a few of these games a little bit more up in the air. Let's get further into this in just a second. But first this episode of locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by Omaha

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Go to OmahaSteaks.com, locked on at checkout, and get $30 off your order. Omaha Steaks is a gift from the heart, a gift that will be remembered with every unforgettable bite. Order with complete confidence today, knowing you're ordering the very best. Visit omahasteaks.com. Use promo code LOCKEDON at checkout to get an extra $30 off your order. Minimum order may be required. All right, so some kids will kind of get up where we just left off with that last segment there.

I find most of me and I understand right I mean we're put into spaces where we're talking about the team and there is so much interest and you know it's something where you definitely are gonna everything and everything is

a piece of the puzzle actually adds up to whatever maybe the some of the puzzle actually adds up to whatever maybe the the sum of the parts is um but but all off season all the way headed through to where we were getting at the beginning of the year the conversation was this is a young team you have a lot of new pieces i think that this team could be playing much better in february than it is at the beginning of the season and we've seen some of the struggles we've seen some of the youth come into play and it feels like all of a sudden now that we're actually in it whereas in the offseason we said well just give it time it could be a little bumpy at the start

of the year and now we're here and it's been a little bumpy but they're still sitting at what eight and one nine and one like i i feel like if you were to ask a lot of people do you have more confidence less confidence or the same amount of confidence that you did at the beginning of the season for what this team would be to now a lot of people would say less but for me it's just the same like nothing has happened so far that has felt unorthodox from what I thought was going to happen. Yeah, I think what, you know, what changed things was the Duke game. When they came out and won the way they did with Jalen playing, you know, great basketball against Duke and you saw how good they were defensively, which that part's, you know, persisted, but specifically like how they were able to win a game against a team with maybe the most talented front court in America. You thought, wow, this team's ahead of schedule. And since then it felt like

there's been regression. That to me is probably the reason why you've got this feeling of disappointment. Like what's wrong? Well, if they just looked like this all season, there would still be concern, but it would fit that sort of theory that you just shared. It's the fact that they look so good against Duke. Like I came away from the Duke game thinking this is a national championship contending team, and they haven't looked like it since then until the game against Seton Hall last week. That was the first time in about a month they had returned to that form. But you're right. Overall, big picture, it's about where that we thought they would be. The biggest question before the season was, how is this frontcourt going to shake out?

Who's going to be the starting five? What's that rotation going to look like? And here we are now a month into the season, and I don't think we're any closer to answering that unless your answer is that this is it that it's going to be KJ and everybody else is going to kind of get in where they fit in Ernest will have his games Zach will have his games maybe Zuby here and there unless you think that's the final form of this team yeah I guess it is exactly what we thought we were getting do you have a favorite I feel like, you know, it's,

it's almost like going to the ice cream shop. You got cookies and cream cookie dough. You got all these different flavors. Um, doesn't feel like, you know, sort of like ice cream, like all ice creams are great.

Uh, it's, it's sort of the opposite of that right now with the centers, not that they've been horrible, but, um, there's not really one emerging above the rest, but do you have one guy that they may be your most brash on?

It's still KJ. I mean, I know that his ceiling isn't as high as really anybody else on the team, but I know what he does. At the very least, I know that KJ will play all season long. We all think Ernest will be that guy eventually. Before the season, I thought it was going to be Zach Clements. But the only one of those four, if you want to include Zuby, that I know is going to have a spot in this rotation

by the time the NCAA tournament rolls around, it's KJ. Because he just does the little thing. There's a reason why he's playing over everybody else. They don't have to worry about him out there. There are limitations to what he can do. He's a wing, basically playing your five spot. And there's that, that's the reason why I think everybody knows there needs to be another answer to that question. Eventually this can't, if I have this same answer in March, that he's still my favorite, he's still the guy who's best suited

to give Kansas 25 minutes a night, then that's an issue. But I know that even in March, he'll have a role. I can't say that about Ernest. I can't say that about Zach. I can't say it about Zuby. I just, there is, there's some reliability there. There is some comfort in that he's never going to be your best player on the floor, but he's going to outwork everybody. He's a good rim runner. He's going to be able to, you know, get offensive rebounds, get to the line. He's a good passer for his size. He's a good shop locker for his size.

He's a good athlete. He plays really tough. He's very strong. You're not really going to push him around. There's a lot to like there, at least at this juncture, more than I think you could say about anybody else in the front court. Yeah,

I think that's all good and fair. I'm actually going to, going to do a deep dive a little on, on this with some different maybe, I don't know, analytics or numbers from Evan Miyakawa's website. And one thing that is weird about KJ Adams is like he doesn't rank well defensively there. And I think I know why it's because the defensive rebounding numbers have not been good, but everything else you're kind of getting from him right now and nobody else has kind of earned that trust. Let me ask you, which of these two scenarios do you think is more likely?

Because to begin with, I'll just say this. I don't think either of these scenarios is that likely, but if you had to pick one of these two options, either Cam Martin, which might be back this Saturday, if not probably the following Saturday, earning the starting center role, or would it be, you're already out on this, or would it be Jalen Wilson eventually becoming the main five man and then playing with like

MJ Rice, Grady Dick, I don't know, DeJuan Harris, and Kevin McCuller. So it'd be like three wings and Jalen at the five. So I guess four wings. I'm not very keen on either of these situations, Derek. But if you made me pick, it would probably be the one involving Jalen Wilson, because at the very least, I know there's a chance you have like five of your best players on the floor together.

And if you're telling me that D2 transfer Cam Martin is going to have to be one of your five guys on the floor, ahead of, are all four of the other big guys top 100 recruits in the country? Are they all like top 80 recruits in the country? Zuby's probably the lowest, but he was top 100. So you're telling me that Cam Martin is going to be the best option? I don't see that faring well for him i don't i'm sorry there are guys like zach ed out there so uh you're going to need to

find mismatches somewhere at the very least if jalen's at the five you're going to get a mismatch with whoever has to guard him from the other team so if you're making me choose that's my answer okay i i i don't know i'm i'm starting to wonder if cam martin's gonna actually have a role on this team because of the fact that the other centers haven't stepped up like but that's he's almost we do this and you know we do we do it's always like the guy we haven't seen yet maybe he's the answer and we always do it at the big guy spot you know whoever's at the end of the bench. Well, he gave, you know, he played four minutes the other night,

but he hustled and he had a, he had a blocked shot and he had that one dunk. Why don't they give him some more run? I think he needs to play. And then you'll go inside his Kimpom numbers. Like they're off the charts. I'm like, he's playing 7% of minutes.

Of course they're off the charts. I don't think his 80 true shooting percentage is going to hold up all year. I mean, if you haven't seen anything, you're like, well, maybe he's the answer. He made nine threes a. I mean, if you haven't seen anything, you're like, well, maybe he's the answer. He made nine threes a game at what,

where was he at Derek? What was the name of his school? Southwest Missouri state. This is Kansas. I'm sorry. Cam Martin might play a nice role in this team. He could maybe give you some spot minutes here or there, but you're a national championship contending team.

You cannot have him as a starting big man. Yeah. I mean, both are unlikely. I do think more of like the role of what ideally maybe Zach Clements could have done this year. Cause he's not hitting shots. That's what Zach Clements supposed to be a center that can hit shots.

So maybe Kim Martin can at least take that, but yeah, both are probably unlikely. All right. We're going to do another edition of who stat line is it anyway, in just the second year. But first this episode is brought to you by built bar. gotta try this built bars new reimagined flavors they've got the cookie dough topper coconut brownie bar coconut brownie topper white chocolate peppermint

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So the first one, 47 tackles, six and a half tackles for loss for sacks. You're going to need to get creative on this one. Why am I going to have to need to get creative? I will tell you this. This is a player's. This is a player, but it is not their full season stats. What? It's not their full season stats.

I took out a game. Okay. Lonnie Phelps. That is. So that is Lonnie Phelps in his 11 FBS games. Now, Lonnie Phelps, second team, all big 12. Great season. Very impactful. Got double teamed a lot. That certainly I'm sure hurt some of the sack numbers,

but is that almost disappointing a little bit? I don't know. Disappointing is too strong of a word. Is that almost because it felt like after he had three sacks against um tennessee tech that this dude was just going to finish with like double digit sacks that like that was going to happen so it's only it's almost like a mild result that again you only got four sacks to the next 11 games i'm gonna be honest i'm glad i got that right because i knew i knew what his final sack number was but i didn't remember how many came in that first game because I did what you're supposed to do against FCS opponents. Derek is completely purged them from your memory. Don't ever think

about them again. But actually, now that you bring it up, I do remember the conversations afterwards. I was talking to Kevin Flaherty, who I know you talk to all the time. He's like, well, maybe we'll just like push that one to the side and reassess it later in the season, which I guess is what we're doing right now. I guess that's to be expected. You're going to perform better against lesser competition. Four and a half sacks in 11 games does sound lackluster, but this is a guy who was playing at Miami of Ohio last year.

And I think oftentimes, and the more we see the transfer portal open up and you'll see players like that, like I promise you you there will be otherly felt come through the next year more guys like him who dominated at a lower level and are being given the chance to prove it at higher levels we're seeing it we're seeing it other places right like florida state had that kid this year i can't remember his name who uh was really big them. And now his draft stock has shot up after transferring from a lower level. So you'll see more of that. It's kind of the evaluation process of figuring out, okay, we know he's too good for that level. How good can he be at this level? And the more of those guys you get, the less you're going to rely

upon them to be stars. Lonnie Phelps was the big one, right? He was the big transfer that you got, that you felt like needed to have an impact because this defensive line was so bad. They didn't get any pressure on the quarterback last year. So I felt like we put a lot of eggs into his basket. If you have four Lonnie Phelps though, all of a sudden you get what I'm saying, right? If you go out in the transfer portal and you get multiple guys of that level you're not going to become so dependent on one of them having a massive season like Kansas was with Lonnie Phelps that's fun if you could clone any we got that mailbag question on on RCST last week if you could clone any of the the basketball players what would make the best starting five if you

could clone any of the defensive football players would it be be Lonnie Phelps? No, I think it gotta be Craig young, right? Yeah. Craig young was really good. I mean, I mean, Jacoby Bryant was probably the best player on the defense. I know,

but I'm saying if you had to clone any of the players and that would be like 11 of them would be your defense. It would have to be Craig young. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

They all are being, you're just saying I got like, I called one of them. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably the right answer. Craig Young. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. They all are being, you're just saying I got like, I called one of them. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably the right answer. Craig Young. Okay. Uh, who's stat line is it anyway? Number two of three, this is a per 40 number. So one of your favorites. I know you love those per forties. I just, I just thought this was a fun one. 8.8 points per game, 19.2 rebounds per game, 5.6 blocks per game 19.2 rebounds per game 5.6 blocks per game i think i know this one because of the blocks the blocks i believe gave it away and my answer is going to be zoobie edge of four that's right i think you're five for five on this dude i crushed i crushed whose outline is it anyway it's because he's like i think five for five on this. Dude, I crushed whose stat line is it anyway?

It's because I think he's second on the team in blocked shots, despite the fact that he's played like 30 total minutes this year and hasn't really done anything else. He's had a couple of dunks, but he's averaging almost a block a game, which is crazy for how little he's played. Do you put anything into that? Should we be, you know, championing for Uzi? Didn, we already talk about this, Derek, we do this man. It's always the guy who's playing like four minutes.

Have we not considered and listen, I think Zuby edge of four is the type of, he's a program player. He's the type of guy who ideally is here for four years. And by the time he's a senior, he could be a really, really special player. But right now, it's just the very beginning. It's the infancy, and this is kind of what happens for young players is you bring them along slowly.

But it's always the guy who's playing four minutes. You're like, what if he played 12, though? He's better than what this guy's doing. Have we not considered that maybe he hasn't played enough for us to see the reasons why he's not playing enough? Right? Like these guys go up against each other in practice every day. Do you think the coaching staff is just watching Zuby Ejiofor kick everyone's ass up and down the court?

And they're like, you know what, though? Let's wait. Let's wait on him. Maybe let's save him for next year. If he was the best, they would play him more. I promise you that. He is a raw athlete. And those are the guys at that position who we always want to see more of

because you see the explosiveness, you see the length and that oozes potential, but there's also a rawness there. Same thing with, with Ernest. You know, Ernest has that same size and length, but he doesn't, he is not the fluid athlete that Zuby is. And I think our eyes are always attracted to those sorts of qualities. All right. I think you should get this one.

This, this might, I don't know. It might be the easiest one. Uh, 43, you're just setting me up for failure. Now,

43 total minutes played zero points, 10 rebounds. Oh, of 11 from the field. Who has not scored? You said he has zero points. In 43 minutes, yes. Hmm.

I feel like this is a trick question. Oh, dude, no, it's not. Zach Clements. That's right. Are we sure he is a good shooter? He was supposed to be. What was the game last year wasn't it oklahoma last year he came in and had a really nice game most of that was because of defense right it was um uh tanner groves right and then he hit he hit the one big three that like gave

him their first lead in a while he hit the one three the one time we've seen him hit a three and he was coming back down like putting the three against his head i think well there was a there was i was listening to to one of the pre-game uh radio broadcasts and brian haney was during the battle for atlantis and the player interviewers is zach clements and he asked that he's who's the best shooter on the team he goes me he's what is he over 14 this year he's over 11 from the field over nine from three I think he's missed like 14 or 15 straight though from three going back to last year they always say that right like the best shooters they always think the next one's going in but at some point you have to have a little self-awareness to say well maybe maybe now is not the time to be shouting my shooting prowess off the rooftops.

But I mean, I guess just keep shooting, right? It's frustrating to have like a seven footer who wants to shoot threes. He never makes it. Can you do anything? Because you're supposed to be an outside in guy and you can't even do that well. So it's like the office space quote. What is it that you'd say you do here? I'm not seeing a whole lot of

production my man all right well that is whose stat line is it anyway uh that's nick schwert you can check him out again yeah hey 610 sports cody and gold waving the wheat anything else that's it man thanks for having me all right that. That's Nick Schwerer. I'm Derek Johnson. Tomorrow's show, we're going to dive into where KU is at and some of their football recruiting stuff here. Check out anything you see, any way that you get our podcast. Subscribe to us wherever. At DJohnsonRadio on Twitter.

You can also hit us up in the comment section on the YouTube channel. That'll do it for today's show. See you tomorrow. This is locked on Jayhawks. Bye.