Bill Self is still the best part of Late Night
The banner is UP.
The unveiling… kind of left me wanting? Am I crazy here? Sure, my entire personality is currently based around how we won the natty, and that will probably last for the foreseeable future. A substantial piece of my identity is riding on this, I’m disclosing that.
But a pretty boilerplate unveil on a bad proprietary streaming app? It feels like the fans deserve more. The Jayhawks achieved the biggest comeback in the history of the national title game. Doesn’t this ceremony require more of a pulse? We didn’t get J. Cole, and now this? We gotta get rid of those Helms banners by the way, it’s beneath us.
Ok! The scrimmage!
I have watched the scrimmage so you don’t have to. Here are some bulleted thoughts, with the caveat that the scrimmage is effectively a meaningless indicator of anything that the future may hold. Somewhat futile exercises are what this weblog newsletter is all about.
Kevin McCullar looks nice! A real Swiss Army knife player that will make everyone on the floor better, I think. Self openly mocked his status as a #midrangeking which lol. He had four steals in the scrimmage.
That Jalen Wilson stick at the end was sweet. Pro move!
Yo Michael “baby Jank” Jankovich is a sniper. I’m not sure we can use it, but it’s true! He was the high scorer.
“I love [Ernest Udeh Jr.’s] personality. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. But he can do that.”—Bill Self lmao. Ernest +10 on the scoresheet tho!
Dajuan Harris looks so smooth and controlled off the bounce. It looks pretty deceptive—he needs it, and he’s really put in the work. Juando had a couple nice finishes, which was an issue last year, so that was nice to see.
The commentary is pure Self id. Late Night represents the rare opportunity where he can say what he’s thinking—as the season progresses, his comments will be more veiled and Machiavellian. Here, he’s just getting super pissed looking at dudes ball-watch in an exhibition scrimmage. I love it!
Sunrise Bois Zach Clemence and Gradey Dick didn’t really do anything but I’m not worried about it at all
It cracks me up how Bobby Pettiford is a player drawn from Self’s imagination. He’s really bouncy—reminds me of Sherron Collins in that way—and can get to the lid. I bet he’s unstoppable in pickup situations. Self can barely contain his love.
CJ Moore predicted that Zuby Ejiofor will be in the rotation before Ernest Udeh is, despite the fact that Ernest Udeh is a much higher-ranked prospect. I believe CJ is right.
The box score courtesy of Matt Tait:
That’s all. Season soon. ROCK CHALK!