Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Would 7-5 Be Disappointing for Kansas Jayhawks Football + KU-OU, KU Basketball Talk & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 On this episode of Locked on Jayhawks, we are joined by Nick Schwert, and we're going to be talking a little KU football. Big one for KU against Oklahoma. A little KU basketball talk as the season is near. We'll finish up with whose stat line is it anyway. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Derek Johnson, you can hear me as well, Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 p.m.

Starting point is 00:00:36 KLW and Lawrence with Rock Chalk Sports Talk. He's Nick Schwert. You can see both of our tags if you're watching us on our YouTube feed, on Twitter X, whatever you're calling it. And obviously, you can you're watching us on our YouTube feed, on TwitterX, whatever you call it. And obviously you can subscribe to our show on our YouTube page, like the show, check out everything there. You can also subscribe to us wherever you get any of your podcasts. On today's edition of the show, we're starting off with some KU football talk.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Fallout from the Oklahoma State game, as much as that was two weeks ago, headed now into the Oklahoma game, which is a, I don't know, opportunity maybe for KU's biggest win of the Lance Lightbold era, but also at the same point in time, a very big game that is going to be tough to win. And we'll get the kids' basketball talk with their first exhibition game this Sunday against Illinois, finish up with whose stat line is it anyway. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook,

Starting point is 00:01:23 the official sportsbook of Locked On. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in guaranteed bets. Just go to Bonus Bets. Visit FanDuel.com to get started today. Okay, so KU takes on Oklahoma this Saturday. The last time we talked to you was before the Oklahoma State game, which Kansas lost to the Cowboys down in Stillwater.

Starting point is 00:01:47 I guess starting there, a game that was weird, a couple calls maybe don't go your way, a couple things you don't do well, your mind is too in the turnover department. How much did the Oklahoma State game change your opinion? Did it change anything about the way you view this team or the way that you view the way they're going to finish this season? No, not particularly. Simply because they played great football for two and a half quarters and gave the game away in the fourth quarter. We can get into specifics as to why, but honestly, old news. Oklahoma State, in the rear mirror. Last week, if we would have talked on Monday,

Starting point is 00:02:27 I would have been pretty down in the dumps. The vibes were pretty low. But somehow, despite the fact that KU had an off week, I'm sitting here ahead of this Oklahoma game. Vibes are once again high. So we can go back to how I was feeling last week, but you put it all in a blender and see what comes out. I'm about where I was at two weeks ago, which is you can go and

Starting point is 00:02:52 shock the world this weekend. And all of a sudden you're dreaming about what the season could hold in the final month of the year. Even if you lose to Oklahoma, I still think you're favored in all of those final four games. And if you are able to like play to the, I still think you're favored in all of those final four games. And if you are able to play to the level that we think you are and finish this season at 9-3 or 8-4, that would be an unbelievable season given everything you've went through, the Jalen Daniels injuries, and just given what Kansas has been through as a program. So to answer your question, no, I'm feeling the same way about this team as I felt two weeks ago, as I felt three weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:03:32 I don't know. So this game to me feels very weird in that regard because as much as I view this team to be better than last year and think they are a better team and will finish that way, if you lose this game, you are now sitting at the exact same record you had to rate games last year, which would be 5-3. Then again, if you would have told me before the year started they were going to be 5-2 through their first seven games,

Starting point is 00:03:56 then I don't know, you might have taken that too. So I almost wonder to the idea of no more moral victories, right? I'm not saying that if you lose this game, it's a failure far from it, but is there a way in the same sense that, that we talked about three, four weeks ago, whatever it was going into the Texas game, we said, you know, honestly, if you even lose this game in Austin by seven points, if you lose this game by 10 points, it's a success.

Starting point is 00:04:20 Can the same thing be applied for Oklahoma? Cause in a vacuum, Oklahoma's a very good team. Beat Texas. Top five team right now, college football playoff contender. If you lose by seven at home on homecoming to Oklahoma, in a vacuum, that's a success. But because this loss would put you at five and three, second straight loss, because of the opportunity that this holds

Starting point is 00:04:41 in front of you, is the only way to be successful on Saturday? Again, difference between success and failure. There is middle ground there. But is the only way to have a successful result on Saturday if they actually do win the game? No, I don't think so because you're still talking about one of the elite programs in the country in Oklahoma. So if I'm only giving myself a win as to come away from it happy, I don't really think that's a worthwhile way to

Starting point is 00:05:18 evaluate Kansas football going up against a program that has been a machine for both of our entire lifetimes. And frankly, long before we were born, like Oklahoma is one of the five or six premier football programs in the country. And I get it. Brent Venables last year, down year, didn't look great. He thought at least he'll be able to get the defense going. That was an issue. All of a sudden this year, they look like, okay, back to being normal

Starting point is 00:05:45 Oklahoma. And I don't think Kansas has risen to the point of a, of a program that we can sit here and start saying, no, like you need to, you need to contend with these guys. Like they're not there yet. If they are, they shocked the world. I think the line's like what, 10 and a half or something like that. And we'll see if Jalen can go and if that moves the line in any direction. 10 almost feels like a small line for a Kansas team that hasn't been super competitive against Oklahoma. They've had some games against Texas. They've won a couple of them.

Starting point is 00:06:17 Oklahoma has been a different story. So I'm going into this one cautiously optimistic, and my optimism doesn't stem from the idea that I think we can win, which I think Kansas could win. You have to play your A game. You have to do what you did against Oklahoma State for two and a half quarters for four quarters, right? You have to put the pedal to the metal offensively.

Starting point is 00:06:36 You may have to score 45 points to win this game. But I'm going in with the idea that we're going to see some things, whether it's the defense, at least looking somewhat respectable. If it's the offense, once again, proving like, yeah, hey, we may lose this game, but we're going to put 30 on you. Like we're going to get ours too. You may get 50 on our defense, but we're going to get 30 on your defense. Those are the small, if you want to call them moral victories, which like you said, we're not really in the business of, but nobody was expecting Kansas to win this game. Nobody at any point this season has expected Kansas to win this game.

Starting point is 00:07:09 So I can't get myself to the point where now I'm going to change those expectations simply because of where Kansas finds themselves with five games to go. I think it's funny because preseason, this was kind of the trendy upset pick for people. Oh, you come off six wins. I know there were some beat writers and some different people. I thought this was a winnable game funny because preseason, this was kind of the trendy upset pick for people. Oh, you come off six wins. I know there were some beat writers and some different people. I thought this was a winnable game in the preseason. I mean, last year you lose by 10 on the road. Year before, you lose by 12 at home, a game that was 28-23.

Starting point is 00:07:34 And then the Caleb Williams play happens on fourth and down with three minutes to go. So you have kind of a – it feels like this Oklahoma is a lot better now, even though this Kansas team might be better too. So if you do end up losing the game, though, puts you 5-3, and it's kind of the same old, same old we've been through this whole way in the Big 12 that every game feels, over those last four, like a game you could win, but also a game you could lose. I mean, Iowa State seemingly has kind of figured it out,

Starting point is 00:08:02 and winning on the road is hard. We just saw that in Stillwater. The most games Kansas won on the road in Big 12 play in a season since the Orange Bowl season was won, right? So maybe they can win one more on the road. But realistically, if you say maybe they split between Iowa State and at Cincinnati, and then between Kansas State at home and Tech at home, split those.

Starting point is 00:08:21 Now, you could win both. Who knows? But let's say you go 1-1 there. You're 2-2. That puts you at 7-5 to finish the season. If I told you that's what they finished, let's say I told you that, I don't know, before the Oklahoma State game, would that feel a bit disappointing at all?

Starting point is 00:08:35 Would that feel a bit disappointing given how the year started and how it times this team? Like you look at the UCF game or you look at the first half of the Illinois game or some of the other moments, would 7-5 feel a little bit disappointing? Yeah, it definitely would. Seven and five would feel disappointing, but I would also like want to know how they got there. How many of those final five games does Jalen Daniels play? And I get like, you're at a point in the season where you're over the

Starting point is 00:09:00 halfway mark and you, you try to like stop making excuses and removing caveats from the conversation. But the fact of the matter is, if you told me that Jason Bean's the starter for the final five games, seven and five feels like it's in the cards. He is your backup quarterback. And that's one of the things coming off the Oklahoma State game where I know the conversation online about Jason Bean and, hey, he pissed the game away down the stretch. He made some bad plays. I don't know what happened to the guy that we saw for the previous two quarters. He is your backup quarterback. I know that that's not a very nuanced conversation, but let me break down depth charts to you, Derek. They have a quarterback competition

Starting point is 00:09:40 every off season, and then they make the guy who's better the starter. And that guy has only played in three games this year. So my expectations are going to be lowered. If you're telling me you have to play the final five games or what would end up being the final seven games with your backup. So I think Jalen Daniel' health is the big sort of question mark as to how optimistic I want to be the rest of the season. But 7-5 would be disappointing. But it wouldn't be any more disappointing than knowing you lost Jalen Daniels for three-fourths of the season. That to me is equally as disappointing as going 7-5 because they go hand-in-hand, and I would say, oh, what if he was able to go? How good could this team have been?

Starting point is 00:10:31 We're going to get to some KU basketball talk. First exhibition game of the season. Season opener is about two weeks away. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by Jace Medical. Don't be caught unprepared. The Jace case provides five life-saving antibiotics for emergency use. All it takes to get a Jace case is fill out a simple form online, and in some cases, jump on a quick call with one of their board-certified physicians. You get ongoing care from their physicians on any treatment-related questions. It's doctor-created

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Starting point is 00:11:34 So the first exhibition game of the season is against Illinois on Sunday. Another exhibition after that, and then not next Monday, but the following Monday they have their season opener. So we're real close to crossover season here. When you think about early in the season, whether it's the exhibition game Sunday or just the first couple of games, because I think they play two games for the Champions Classic, just in the early portion of the season, really,

Starting point is 00:11:56 what are the things that you're most going to be kind of watching for, having a scrutinized eye on early in the season? Because we know there's certain things that early on maybe will matter, maybe won't matter, maybe will be applicable on early in the season? Because we know there's certain things that, you know, early on, maybe will matter, maybe won't matter. Maybe will be applicable to later in the season, maybe won't. What are the things that you're going to find most interesting early in the year? I mean, it's kind of the same stuff that we're always paying attention to early in the year.

Starting point is 00:12:20 Rotation, right? Who is Bill Self favoring early versus who is he favoring at the end of non-com play in November and December? You're going to play the champions classic. Like that's usually when you see like who he trusts and who he doesn't like, this is what we saw last year. Well, really two years ago, but last year as well with KJ Adams, like it's two years in a row where we kind of waited for this guy to maybe play a little bit less, and they keep going to him because they trust him. That is the biggest thing. We can talk about talent and fit and needs.

Starting point is 00:12:52 Okay, this team needs shooting. Maybe this guy should play more. At the end of the day, Bill Self makes decisions based off of trust. Do I trust that I'm going to put you in and you're going to do the two things that I really need to see from you like with KJ it's defense and rebounding he moves the ball well offensively it's like he plays smart who's going to be that guy for this team because for the most part like we don't know the rotation but we know who the guys are like we know DeJuan we know Kevin McCuller we know hunter dickinson i almost said hunter

Starting point is 00:13:26 mickelson i'm that's going to be by the way this side no that's going to be a struggle for me this year i don't know why it's not fair to either one of them mostly not fair to hunter dickinson but who is your basketball game 500 mickelsons or 100 dickinson 500 mickelsons are you kidding me come on the 100 dickinson isn't scoring. And then KJ. Like through the offseason, we talked about this a couple months ago. Through the offseason, there was this kind of idea that, well, with Hunter Dickinson in, KJ can't really stretch the floor.

Starting point is 00:13:57 Is he going to be able to play the four? I'm telling you right now, that conversation will not go away all season. Like you'll start to hear the people come out on Twitter when KU looks a little clunky on offense. That's where it's going to happen. KU won't have great spacing offensively. Maybe they're daring KJ to shoot. He misses a couple jumpers. The lane's getting clogged.

Starting point is 00:14:17 Hunter Dickinson's getting double teamed. And then you're going to start to hear people come out on Twitter and say, you know, I love KJ. They'll always preface it with like, I love the guy, right? That's always when something bad is coming next. I love KJ, but I just don't see if he's going to be able to play next to Hunter. The spacing is not going to be there. I'll be the first to tell you, KJ Adams is going to play 20 plus minutes all season long.

Starting point is 00:14:44 Like that guy's minutes are not going to go down. And I think a lot of his playing time is going to come next to Hunter Dickinson simply because this coaching staff, the way they've always operated is these are the pieces we like. It's our job to get them to fit together, right? It may not be the most natural fit, but we're going to get the best players on the court. And if they think KJ is one of their top five players, he's going to be on the court.

Starting point is 00:15:10 So aside from that, the big question for me is who's, who's going to be that two guard. I know El Marco Jackson's kind of the easy name to slot in there, but then you, you factor in Johnny Furphy, kind of getting a lot of love from the coaches and the preseason, maybe saying that he was better than they expected him to be. The recruiting ranking came out. All of a sudden, this is a top 40 player.

Starting point is 00:15:30 He's long. He's athletic. He can drive. I'll be really interested to see how that shakes out as well, but I think ultimately both of those guys are going to get playing time. So it's a lot of the same stuff, just kind of trying to get a feel for the rotation, get a feel for how this team's going to play. Where is the shooting going to come from? these are all questions that apply to this team

Starting point is 00:15:47 but they're also questions that have applied to basically every Kansas team that I could remember well Bill Self at Big 12 Media Days last week talked about the two guard position and with Elmarco Jackson and Johnny Furphy and Nick Timberlake. And he even left the door open for Jamari McDowell and kind of said that it's kind of an even competition right now. And they're looking to get more out of the guys with Timberlake and Marco and that, you know, those two with McDowell. And I think he even had a quote to Gary Bedore, the Kansas City star, in one of the breakout sessions where he talked about how Jamari McDowell, if they had to play a game right now, would be the most day one ready. Do you view that as actually being serious, or do you think that's some sort of motivation to try to get a Marco and Nick Timberlake to take it to the next level?

Starting point is 00:16:34 That tells me that he is holding players to different standards. What standard are you holding Jamari McDowell to? You don't expect this guy to play. So if he's playing smart, they were talking about registering him a month ago till the Artaria Morris stuff happened. Right. Right. So it's like, okay, well, you don't expect this guy to play. So your expectations are by default going to be lower. When you have a Marco Jackson, McDonald's all American,

Starting point is 00:17:01 potential one and done who you think is going to give you 25, 30 minutes a night, you're asking a little bit more of him. You need him to do more. You need him to be more of an initiator on offense. You need him to be a guy who can go and get you points and play good on defense. With Jamari McDowell, it's like, well, you're not serious. Like, sure, if the game was today, maybe he's going to play. My guess is over the next, what, two weeks, when they actually start rounding into form before the season, they're going to zero in on the guys who are actually going to play, and those guys are going to be more ready by day one than anybody else.

Starting point is 00:17:38 So, like, yeah, we hear that kind of stuff all the time. I'm not really reading into it. All right, let's finish up whose stat line is it anyway? First, this episode of the show brought to you by eBay Motors. Passion, drive, and patience. What brings home the winning trophy is also what brings your ride or die

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Starting point is 00:18:36 only exclusions apply ebay guaranteed fit only available to u.s customers we're finishing up with whose stat line is it anyway if you're new to this, it's like whose line is it anyway. I asked Nick a stat line or some sort of stat-related thing, and he tries to figure it out. These ones are more list-related, so we can kind of work through these together if you want. So this is a football one before we get to a basketball one. KU has four skill players in football right now that have three

Starting point is 00:19:01 or more touchdowns. So non-quarterbacks, these are receiving, rushing, whatever touchdowns, three or more touchdowns. So non quarterbacks, these are receiving rushing, whatever touchdowns three or more. Can you name them? Okay. Uh, Devin Neal.

Starting point is 00:19:12 Yep. That's the easy one. Daniel. Hi, Shaw. Yep. Luke Grimm. There you go.

Starting point is 00:19:21 And for number four, Trevor Wilson? No, this was the hard one. This one is Dylan McDuffie. So I don't know. Is there any concern? Does it matter at all that you don't have more guys like Lawrence Arnold and Mason Fairchild and some of these skilled players that we've gotten to know their names and their game.

Starting point is 00:19:45 Is that, does that mean anything? Does it mean anything? Well, let me, let me, let me stall here while I pull up KU stats this year. They're averaging 35 points per game. That is 21st in the country. So I'm going to say that's a resounding. No, I don't care where the touchdowns are coming.

Starting point is 00:20:02 They're top 25 offense in the country yeah i think that's the right answer okay uh this one's ku basketball i went and put together i was curious because going back to the four spacing conversation with kj you know three point shooting will be the question all year long with this team what is the career three point leaderboard look like for ku basketball um so number one has 233 career three-point makes. Number two has 78. Number three has 59. Number four has 45.

Starting point is 00:20:30 Five has 31. Six has 10. Seven has nine. So they only have seven players on the roster who have made a career three to begin with. Would you like to guess who is where on this list? Or just throw out names and I can tell you where the place is. Okay.

Starting point is 00:20:46 Number one, I think I know because it's not somebody who was on KU's roster last year. I'm going to say number one is Nick Timberlake. That is right. He crushes the competition here. Then 78 is pretty significant drop off from 233 to 78. I think this has got to be, yeah, it's got to be Kevin McCuller.

Starting point is 00:21:09 It is. But when you, when you space it out and you're like, this is Kevin McCuller, sixth year of basketball. When you say 78 threes in the first five, that doesn't sound like a lot, does it?

Starting point is 00:21:19 But it's not surprising if you've watched him play. Number three, 59. Well, then it's 59 and then 45. I'm trying to think, like, who am I missing here? I don't know how many threes Hunter's made. I know that these two are Hunter. See, I almost did it again.

Starting point is 00:21:42 These two are either hunter dickinson or and or dewan harris i'm gonna say i'm gonna say dewan is is at 59 and i'm gonna say hunter is at 45 all right you're spot on so far so you have three to finish and okay keep in mind as we go through the last three names i mean specifically for, specifically for this next guy, number five, the fact that 31 is within striking distance, I guess, of like DeJuan and Hunter Dickinson, I thought was a little funny on this one. Maybe, maybe not.

Starting point is 00:22:14 I don't know. We'll see how you interpret this. Gosh, who am I missing? Because there's so many newcomers on this team. gosh, who am I missing? Cause there's so many newcomers on this team. I mean, I have, it's not KJ.

Starting point is 00:22:38 I know that. Yeah, I know. Um, well, I thought he maybe had one, but yeah, either way, who else is on the team

Starting point is 00:22:47 all right i'm gonna give you wait wait wait wait wait he doesn't have 31 does he i think i don't think he has 31 but the only other name that I can even think of is Zach Clements, but I don't think it's him. Zach Clements has 10. He is on this list. Yeah. All right.

Starting point is 00:23:11 Who's 31. I give up. Seventh on the list is Michael Jankovich with nine. And number five on the list is one Parker Brown with 31. I never would've got it. I never would've got it. So what's the point of this What's the point of this Is the point of this exercise that KU's gonna suck

Starting point is 00:23:30 At shooting this year I don't know it's just the point of it is to have a question But I'll have a question to the question Over under.5 minutes played this year With Parker Brown next to Hunter Dickinson Oh Okay well over Bill Self gets pissed in games You know where he'll just bench someone next to Hunter Dickinson. Oh, okay. Over.

Starting point is 00:23:47 Bill Self gets pissed in games, you know, where he'll just bench someone, and then I don't even, it doesn't make any sense, but I don't care. I'm tired of playing everybody else, so you're in. All right. He's Nick Schwert. You can give him a follow on Twitter, at Nick underscore Schwert.

Starting point is 00:23:58 I am Derek Johnson, at DJohnsonradio on Twitter. Find us wherever you get any of your podcasts with Locked on Jayhawks. You can also find us on our YouTube page. We'll see you next time with LOJ. Later.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Would 7-5 Be Disappointing for Kansas Jayhawks Football + KU-OU, KU Basketball Talk & More

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