Tom Keegan’s lede from today’s Lawrence Journal-World:

Faster, faster, faster. Play faster. Will you please play faster?

Too often this season, it has been difficult to sit in Allen Fieldhouse and not repeat that thought.

As the table below shows, except for showing some mercy to an undermanned Dartmouth squad, Kansas has played at a faster pace than they did last night against an undermanned Winston-Salem State squad. The difference last night was that the Jayhawks just scored more efficiently than they have in any other games in the Fieldhouse so far this year.

Unless I missed an outbreak of people using the phrase “at least they played fast” following the Oral Roberts loss, or, “It’s a nice win, but I wish they’d played faster” following the Florida game (62.5 possessions per 40 minutes), I think it’s safe to say that when it comes as part of a complaint, faster = score more.

Nothing good can come of tonight’s game other than someone who usually spends his time on the far end of the bench using the time between 8:40 and 10:00 pm CST (approximate) to set a career high in various categories.

On the other hand, the vast gulf of talent and athleticism that separates the Univeristy of Kansas men’s basketball team from the Winston-Salem State men’s basketball team renders everything that happens on the court meaningless while the very existence of this game highlights the most unpleasant realities of 21st Century college basketball. What progress is made tonight is not in pursuit of a conference or national championship in 2007 but in pursuit of narrowing the gap in Athletic Department revenue between the University of Kansas and the University of Texas at Austin.

If anyone wants the particulars as to Winston-Salem State’s easily purchased incompetence, check Ken Pomeroy’s wonderful content here and here.

Updated team and individual stats for the Jayhawks are after the jump.

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For those who are curious, here is a list of the players who have transferred since Self arrived.

Giddens certainly seems to be a changed player, although his 3pt% continues to be horrible. He has attempted 50 free throws this season while attempting all of 25 in 2004/05 at KU. I guess he can put the ball on the floor.

Padgett continues his injury-riddled career and continues to get slammed by Majerus for leaving KU.

Better late than never, but I’ve been a tied up and unable to post this pic. After watching KU piss away a 14 point lead at All State arena, I proceded directly to Lotties pub in Wicker park to guzzle keg beer in a private tent. While I was there, I ran into Scott Novosel..otherwise known as ‘Novi Go’ from the Japanese rap group Nice Guy Jin. He had some nice things to say about phogblog, and it sounds like he’s doing well over in Japan with his rap career. I ran across this interview with him today. Best of luck to you Scott..and if you’re ever back in Larry..look us up.

*right to left: myself, niceguyjin, and some other random dude to the left who spoke japanese and picked up the tab.

Jason Tomassini of CollegeHoops.Net names Darrell Arthur as the #5 rookie in the nation this season based on games played so far…

5. Darrell Arthur, Kansas - Despite playing only 16 minutes against Florida he was the player of the game with 19 points and more aggressive play than anyone else on the court. I didn’t really know anything about him before that game but that’s arguably the best performance by a freshman in a big game this season. Since then he’s struggled a bit but Bill Self has to get him off the bench, he’s only averaging 21 minutes per game. I always thought you want to play your leading scorer as much as possible but then again, I’m not a coach.

Stats- 14.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.2 apg, 2.1 bpg, 1.2 spg, 1.6 TO, 62.2 FG%, 79.4 FT% Freshman perk- His roommates switched his toothpaste to Crest so he wouldn’t be reminded of the Jayhawks embarrassing loss to Oral Roberts earlier this season.

Kevin Durant (Texas), Chase Buddinger (AZ), Greg Oden (Ohio State) and Javaris Crittenton (GA Tech) head up the list.

Toledo has yet to play a home game. They beat Middle Tennesse State and VCU in the Virgin Islands. They lost to Iowa there, and have dropped true road games at Missouri State, Drexel, and Vanderbilt.

Both teams play right at 69 possessions per game.

KANSAS OFFENSE v. TOLEDO DEFENSE

Toledo’s overall defensive numbers are flattered by their opponents’ inability to make free throws despite ample opportunity to do so. A parade of Jayhawks going to the free throw line tomorrow may provide a much-needed boost to Kansas’s offensive efficiency.

TOLEDO OFFENSE v. KANSAS DEFENSE

Toledo’s two best shooting performances have come in games that went to overtime which inflates their season field goal percentage a little bit. They shot the ball very well at Vanderbilt (62.9 eFG%) and against Middle Tennesse State (53.9 efg%) but shot 49 eFG% or worse in three of their games this year.

Kansas should be able to force lots of turnovers (maybe even enough to even things out from the football game earlier this year), grab the overwhelming majority of defensive rebounds, and may even have found an opponent they can keep off the free throw line.

Prediction: Kansas 77 Toledo 62

PLEASE SKIP THE PORTION OF THIS POST IN ITALICS IF YOU’RE OFFENDED BY SELF-PROMOTION.

Should anyone miss them, I promise updated team and player tempo-free stats early next week. I’ve been busy catching up on the Big 12 and around the country this week.

Thank you.

Self knows this team is in a bit of a funk, but he’s confident we’ll get better, just like he was last year. Thoughts on his comments?

On playing in Kansas City and at Kemper Arena:
“I think our fans enjoy it, as long as the building is warm. We like going over there. We are 80-24 in the building and won a couple of very good games there. Kemper has been great to KU and there are a lot of great memories there. I think the largest crowd they ever had there was not for the Final Four, but for the shoot around on the Friday before a Final Four. They had to squeeze about 18,000 people in that day. There have been some very memorable things happen at Kemper for the University of Kansas. I’ll also be real honest: I think everyone is excited about the chance to play at the Sprint Center in the coming years. Kemper has been great to Kansas and we certainly hope our last memory there will be positive.”

On how the KU program might reactif it were to face the same tragedy that afflicted Toledo’s:
“I can’t imagine, but it would certainly put everything into perspective. It’s hard enough getting through losses and they don’t even count when you look at the big picture of what life is really all about. You have to feel for any family member, team or program that loses a close family member or a loved one. That certainly would help put things in perspective for a group of young men getting ready to go out and face the world on their own. I am sure it has been tough on their coach, their staff and the players, but hopefully they have rallied around it.”

On Mario Chalmers getting more involved in the offense:
“I think he should be getting three or four more shots a game. Against USC, the way they face-guarded Mario and Brandon (Rush), really turned out to be wise move because with Darrell Arthur in foul trouble, it limited the number of options we could get the ball to. I don’t know how many shots he’s getting a game, but he should be averaging about 12 shots per game. I think a lot of it is us executing a lot better and knowing what we’re looking for. We’re not a good play-running team. We’ve run numerous quick-hitters and nobody would know we ran them. When we run our best offense, it’s out of whatever we’re trying to do. We’re not a good execution team yet and weren’t last year either. We were the year before that and that is how Wayne (Simien) got all his touches. No teams are great at everything and that is one thing we could get better as a team. The other night we played great offense, we just couldn’t make a shot.”

On Darrell Arthur’s foul troubles early against USC:
“The first foul he had the other night was a bad foul. It was a loose-ball foul and he didn’t jump to the lose ball or anticipate his man jumping across his face. The second foul was a play when a Trojan got loose, went to the hole pretty hard and Arthur came over from the weak side to help. To me, that was a good block. I thought there were a couple of fouls that were called on him that could have gone the other way. Certainly I do not think he got the benefit of a few breaks from his foul situation. He is not doing as poor a job as the appearance is, but we have to keep him in the game longer.”

On how his defense has played:
“I thought our defense against USC was pretty good for the most part. They shot a good percentage, but they didn’t get that many good looks. Lodrick (Stewart) made some hard shots. We’re not going to be able to pressure the ball like we did against USC and get as many steals as we did against them. We were fortunate there because we were active with our hands. We certainly can get more sound, but our defense was good against the Trojans. Our advantage over them was our speed.”

On Toledo’s top three scorers:
“I think they are pretty good. They are good because they play with an undersized post, which always creates mismatch problems because he can get you away from the basket. They play with an undersized four man who is a guard and who can really shoot threes. They are a little bit unconventional, but they are a very good offensive team. It’s tough because we may end up having to use one of our guards on their bigs and they run a lot of ball screens which makes it hard to guard them the way we might conventionally guard them because they play four guards. We have a serious size advantage, but they have an advantage of having guys who can play away from the basket.”

On whether playing in Kansas City helps with recruiting:
“I don’t think it hurts if we could utilize the game to get players and coaches to the games. I think it may be easier for city kids and coaches to go to a game there as opposed to coming over here. I think if we take full advantage of it, I think it could be an advantage for us. I’m not sure if it’s the same as coaching in Champaign and playing in Chicago because it’s a two and a half hour drive, and those [Chicago] kids couldn’t get to Champaign. Most of the kids in Kansas City can get over here (Lawrence). So it’s probably not a huge advantage. Once we play in the Sprint Center though, and you can start talking about potentially hosting the NCAA [Tournament] and Big 12 [Tournament], that can be an even bigger draw for the local kids.”

On Brandon Rush’s shooting:
“The way he needs to get out of it is through repetition, and he’s going to [get out of it]. There are a lot of reasons why we haven’t looked as good offensively, and that is the one I’m the least concerned about. I believe in my heart [he’s going to get out of it], and when it happens it will happen like it did last year, or even bigger. He’s been in a little funk offensively, and that goes without saying; but against USC he was aggressive. He got off 14 shots and they were face-guarding him. I think that was a big step in the right direction. After struggling against DePaul, his being so aggressive against USC was a big positive for him. We need him to be aggressive all the time. He is defending pretty well and rebounding above average, but he just needs to understand that he needs to be a basketball player and not put so much pressure on himself to make shots and be our go-to-guy. Our go-to-guy right now is by committee. Against Florida, it was Arthur. I think Mario has the most poise during those situations. I defintely think that we need to have Brandon playing to his ability offensively and making shots because he makes us a much better team.”
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Thought I might drop a shout out to SI on Campus’ power rankings, in which KU still finds itself, accompanied by a strange reference to nocturnal urination by none other than everyone’s favorite blog editor - me.

Phog Blog is growing and getting an ever better and more active commentor base, but I’d love to have more posts. If any of you out there would like to contribute posts or opinions from time to time, please email me at phogblog@gmail.com. I’ll be accepting a few new posters and would love to get some more varied perspective on the Hawks.

Note: The Phog Blog is not, nor will it ever be a replacement for your favorite Jayhawk board. But since it’s got RSS all up in it and its friendly to mobile devices (and, might I add, home to good, honest discussion), there will be a growing place for it among Jayhawk fans.

Tonight’s game is for anyone already nostalgic for the Ball State game in Vegas or eagerly awaiting a sneak preview of the two Kansas/Kansas State matchups: expect the point where ineffective offense meets solid defense to blur completely out of focus.

USC leaves home for the first time this year sporting a 5-1 record with wins over St. Mary’s (CA), The Citadel, Long Beach State, Mississippi Valley State, and Loyola-Marymount following a season-opening, overtime loss to South Carolina.

USC’s offense averages under one point per possession due to a combination of poor shooting (48.8 eFG% on the season, 42.5 eFG% against all schools not named “The Citadel”) and an extreme willingness to turn the ball over (25.2% of Trojan possessions end by giving the ball away). Sound familiar?

USC has been extremely effective at keeping their opponents from scoring, with only South Carolina (106) scoring more than 84 points per 100 possessions in any game. As shown below, USC’s defensive success is built almost entirely on forcing missed shots.

USC hasn’t depressed opponents’ scoring by slowing the pace of games. They’ve averaged four more possessions per game than have the Jayhawks this season. That, combined with Kansas’s penchant for forcing turnovers and USC’s willingness to give the ball away should give the Jayhawks ample opportunity to work on their transition offense, their spacing in which, thus far, resembles nothing so much as that typical of an under-8 soccer game.

Until their performances show sustained improvement, or until they play Florida again, I am considering this Kansas team to be poor-to-mediocre offensively. Which still makes them slightly better offensively than USC. Assuming Kansas gives a good defensive effort for 40 rather than just 35 minutes that should be difference enough for the Jayhawks to squeak out an ugly win.

Prediction: Kansas 67 USC 63

USC INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

I can recap that game in five lines:

1) Bradley, points per 100 possessions vs. DePaul: 121
2) Northwestern, points per 100 possessions vs. DePaul: 109
3) Kentucky, points per 100 possessions vs. DePaul: 127
4) Purdue, points per 100 possessions vs. DePaul: 106
5) Kansas, points per 100 possessions vs. DePaul: 90

It is December. And that can mean only one thing: Final Exam time.

The ridiculously difficult Games of Week 14:

1. Nebraska +4 vs. Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship Game)

Should be the best crowd in Big 12 Championship Game history. I will take the team with the better D and better coach.

OU

2. Arkansas +2.5 vs. Florida (SEC Championship Game)

By the time this game is played, Florida’s chances of playing opposite Ohio St on January 8 for the imaginary national championship might already be history; i.e., if USC is stomping UCLA 2 1/2 hours into that game. Could be Letdown Town. . .

Or maybe UCLA is doing the stomping, and an impressive FU showing could move them past Michigan. Could be Choke City. . .

Either way, this game belongs to:

ARKANSAS

3. Wake Forest +2.5 vs. Ga. Tech (ACC Championship Game)

Can you use the words “Wake Forest” and “Orange Bowl” in the same sentence? I didn’t think so. I’d wager that George Bernard Shaw, himself, would find that a daunting task.

GA TECH

4. Southern Cal -13 vs. UCLA

Pete Carroll will find a way to keep the Trojans loose. This game will be over with the spread covered by halftime.

5. Rutgers +9.5 at West Virginia

The Mountaineers were not loose last week against a South Florida team that fell in Lawrence. They have no reason to be tight this week. Just mad.

WVU

6. Army +20 at Navy

“Uncle! Uncle,” I say, Vegas. I didn’t think there was a line you could throw out that would cause me to take Army. But 20 points? In the ultimate rivalry game? On a neutral field? To Navy?

ARMY

7. Air Force +17 at TCU

Another service academy as a big underdog. It’s tempting. But TCU is better than Navy and is at home.

TCU

8. Connecticut +27 at Louisville

Louisville tunes up for its appearance in a BCS Bowl.

UL

9. Colorado St -3 at San Diego St

CSU has lost 6 in a row. SDSU only 2. But the Aztecs have lost 9 of their 11 games on the season. Isn’t there some way two teams this bad can both get points? If not, I have to go with the home dog. Bad Dog!

SDSU

10. La-Monroe +3 at La-Lafayette

ULM, to its credit, has been competitive vs. what, in basketball, would be referred to as mid-majors. And KU. La-Lafayette is bowl eligible at 6-5, including a W over Conference USA finalist Houston, is riding a two game winning streak, and is at home.

ULL

11. Troy -11.5 at Florida International

FIU just hasn’t been the same since their infamous fight with Miami.

Check that. They have been the same. They were winless then. They are winless now.

TROY

12. La-Tech +10 at New Mexico St

No, this is not the WAC Championship Game. Both teams are 1-6 in conference and have 3 wins overall. But Aggie memorial Stadium will be rocking. Or am I thinking of nearby El Paso and the Rolling Stones recent concert in the Sun Bowl?

NMSU

13. Fresno St +4.5 at San Jose St

Fresno St will play anyone, anywhere. Which is why they are 4-7. However, 3 of their 4 W’s have come in their last three games. Call them leftover turkey, because they are on a roll.

FRESNO ST

14. Stanford +28.5 at Cal

This is a lot of points in a rivalry game. Even for a one win team. But Cal has to let out its frustration on someone–and it can’t wait until after Christmas to exorcise its demons.

CAL

15. Oregon St +7.5 at Hawaii

Hawaii’s annual late season assault on the mainland.

HAWAII

–Mark
_______________________________________________________________Remember, as always:
1. These picks are for entertainment purposes only.
2. You get what you pay for.
3. There are no refunds.

First of all, enter the prediction contest if you haven’t already.

DePaul is 1-4 entering tomorrow’s game with their one win coming at home against Eastern Illinois. The Blue Demons opened the year with road losses to Bradley and Northwestern wherein their offense averaged but 85 points per 100 possessions. After beating Eastern Illinois by 30 points, DePaul went 0-2 (against Division I opponents) in the Maui Invitational losing close games to Kentucky and Purdue. DePaul’s offense performed much better outside the continental U.S., scoring 115 points per 100 possessions. They lost both games because of a continued inability to defend decent opposition. Bradley scored 122 points per 100 possessions, Kentucky scored 127, and Purdue 126. By point of comparison, Kansas scored 127 points per 100 possessions on Tuesday night against Dartmouth.

In their four losses, DePaul have let their opponents shoot over 60 eFG% from the field, attempt four free throws for every 10 field goals, and forced turnovers on just 15.6% of opponents’ possessions. To their credit, the Blue Demons have dominated the defensive glass, corralling 74.5% of possible defensive rebounds.

Considering that Kansas demonstrates an intermittent proclivity for missing shots and turning the ball over and that they use their offensive rebounding prowess (43.8 OR% on the season) as something of a safety net, DePaul might not be as overmatched as they initially appear. The game tomorrow will be their first in ten days and is easily their biggest home game until Pittsburgh, UConn, and Marquette visit during conference play. A disinterested or travel-weary Kansas team could be in for a rude awakening. However, If Kansas shows up ready to play then I’d take comfort in the supposition that if Randolph Morris, Joe Crawford, and Ramel Bradley can run roughshod over DePaul’s defense then Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush, and Mario Chalmers should encounter limited resistance.

Prediction: Kansas 78 DePaul 61

DePAUL INDIVIDUAL LEADERS