You know it's a big day



  • Furph tended to be only a first-half contributor. It is my opinion he wasn’t quite stout enough to play 100% for two halves. I credit him for giving all he had… it just didn’t translate into him being a second-half player.



  • I was highly entertained watching the kid come in and exceed initial expectations. Sports is entertainment for us, jobs for them. I don’t get why people get bent out of shape because they think college athletes are required to sacrifice their own lives to give it all for the good ol’ school. “Keep playing as long as I want you to” is a pretty entitled way of being a fan.



  • @dylans embiid and wiggins carried the team to a second round exit against Stanford? I mean just Wiggins, because Embiid didnt play in the tournament, right?

    Is that carrying the team?

    Did Furphy not win games for us?

    I fail to see a real difference tbh.



  • @approxinfinity I believe they won the conference and finished 10th with an incredibly weak roster led by freshmen. Furphy did nothing (nothing wrong, nothing memorable in a good way either) - Hunter and McCullar carried the team. Without Furphy KU won at a better clip than when he was inserted into the starting lineup over Elmarko. That’s likely because McCullar went down, but where was the Aussie? Napping during the second halves.

    Without Wiggins KU wouldn’t have won 20 games. That roster was weak. Without Embiid they lost early in the tournament. With a healthy Furphy a national championship winning point guard and the best big money could buy KU flamed out early this go. Furphy’s biggest contribution to KU hoops was his down under white trash hair cut. 💇♂



  • @approxinfinity said in You know it's a big day:

    @dylans the team sucked and furphy was a bright spot. Your criticism could be said about wiggins and embiid as well, had they not gone on to nba success. Maybe his success contributed in part to the guys we pulled this offseason, as he is proof that a player can come in and in one season improve their stock dramatically.

    I’m glad we had Furphy and he made the season much more watchable for me.

    Amen. The kid hit critical 3s and ran the floor like a gazelle. He had some pretty explosive dunks.

    I shudder to think of last season without Furphy, considering how things played out: Morris out, Elmarko struggles, Kevin gets hurt, etc.

    Seriously, I’m not sure we make the tournament last year without Furphy.





  • @approxinfinity Do you believe the 2013 roster would’ve gone further in the tournament with Furphy than with Wiggins? I don’t think they make the tournament with Furphy instead of Wiggins.

    I don’t get the Furphy love. He had potential, but did nothing for KU. He did not suck, he did carry himself well, but he did nothing for KU in the big picture. No individual accolades. No Big 12 title. No Big 12 tournament title. No NCAA success. So what’s the big deal? He’s completely forgettable. His time in Lawrence led to nothing - no increase in viewership, no increase in wins, no recruiting bump, no hype, no substance, no revenue bump, nothing. He’s just one of those players that left a year or two too early to make an impact.



  • I think he marginally increased viewership for the season and recruiting for this offseason which has a cascading effect. Not profound, but net plus.

    I do think 2013 still makes tourney with Furphy instead of Wiggins.



  • @approxinfinity fair enough.



  • @approxinfinity My wife watched one game when I told her about Furphy. She thought he looked so young and got a kick out of seeing him so happy when he drained a 3. So, 1 more viewer of one game…definition of a marginal increase in viewership! No one from Nielsen contacted us, though.



  • @approxinfinity said in You know it's a big day:

    I think he marginally increased viewership for the season and recruiting for this offseason which has a cascading effect. Not profound, but net plus.

    I do think 2013 still makes tourney with Furphy instead of Wiggins.

    Comparing Wiggins to Furphy is dumb because each came in with a different level of hype and expectations of what to expect from their freshmen seasons. Both played their roles well. Wiggins role was to be the man and he mostly was. Furphy was the third option for his team and he mostly filled that role.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 I dont think it’s dumb. It’s just incongruous, and hard to come up with anything absolute. But I’m not trying to do that. I’m not trying to say “Furphy is BETTER than Wiggins”. I’m specifically saying that in the annals of Jayhawk history, I don’t think Wiggins and Embiid would have occupied a much larger space than Furphy had they not gone on to be NBA stars.



  • Heres maybe a more relevant comparison @Texas-Hawk-10 : Kevin Mccullar. Will we remember Mccullar more significantly than Furphy? Two underwhelming seasons for the team, and shutting it down his last season early. Fair or not, I dont think there is much difference between their impacts on the program.

    Maybe you can argue that Mccullar was more capable of being top dawg than Furphy at this stage, and that’s fair. But Furphy was still standing when Mccullar was lost, and in my opinion, his game was more enjoyable to watch, all youth and upside.



  • @approxinfinity

    Kevin would have earned more cred had he kept his shooting % up… and of course… played through his injury in March. I’m not sure if it was him or Self that made the decision for him to sit. My guess… Self.



  • @drgnslayr no way!



  • @approxinfinity said in You know it's a big day:

    I dont think it’s dumb. It’s just incongruous

    It can be both, and here is my proof: There is a helluvalot of dumb…in Congress.



  • @mayjay boooooo



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Self always puts his players first and if there was any risk he’d sit him. If he wanted him to play so bad he could have mentioned he hoped to get him back right at that time. Would have put a lot of pressure on Kevin. I believe Kevin wanted to play.



  • @drgnslayr with respect, I believe like w/embiid, Drs cleared them but they were worried about their nba futures. Maybe that’s ok. Think his agents and parents were in his head too.



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Yes! The biggest risk to Kevin was probably he became too swollen and they pulled back his minutes or he played really bad. And if it agitated his knee, it could slow him down for months while he has to go out there and nail down a NBA contract.

    If he was for sure coming back to KU next year… I probably would have played him. He’d have all summer to recover. But as things stand, I would have sat him, too!

    And imagine how it would look if he played and worsened his knee? Wouldn’t look good for him or KU.



  • @drgnslayr I don’t think the Drs. would’ve cleared him if he could’ve made it worse.



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    Doctors don’t guarantee outcomes. When they clear a player, it’s an evaluation of his current injury status. They always issue a caveat that it could worsen. Or maybe it was so severe he just couldn’t perform well because of the pain. That wouldn’t have helped his draft stock.

    Watch Embiid right now in the playoffs. He’s playing through several complications. He’s being constantly evaluated by doctors to update his status. He gets cleared… but he’s playing at risk.

    Are you thinking Kevin just didn’t want to play? He put everything into getting to this part of KU’s season.



  • Self shutting down McCullar? Man, it seems like we’re living in a reverse-occams-razor world.

    The least likely possibility should not be the one to assume is correct.

    • .
    • .
    • .

    On the topic of McCullar, he was most certainly more impactful to the program than Furphy. He was here two years. His stats don’t lie.

    When he was out of the game, the team struggled. His absence certainly impacted the team.



  • @bskeet except the home Baylor game!



  • I think Furphy will be extremely successful in the NBA. He was smart, mature, serious and focused in all the post game interviews. Instinctively, he has to be one of the best freshmen pro prospects in a long damn time other than the obvious 1 and dones. I’ll check back here in 3 years and see if I’m right.



  • @DanR said in You know it's a big day:

    I think Furphy will be extremely successful in the NBA. He was smart, mature, serious and focused in all the post game interviews. Instinctively, he has to be one of the best freshmen pro prospects in a long damn time other than the obvious 1 and dones. I’ll check back here in 3 years and see if I’m right.

    I completely agree. Plus he fits what they are looking for. I won’t be surprised if he gets drafted in the front half of the first round.



  • I think he should return mainly for physical improvement and strength.

    His physical strength and stamina are no way near rigorous demands of NBA, he will be bullied around.

    He will look little kid a playing with Big Dawgs.



  • Furphy’s legacy at KU in the second halves - NCAA tournamnet - 2/5 shooting against Samford and 0-7 against Gonzaga. Big 12 tournament - 0-5 against Cincinnati Reg season - 1-4 Houston, KSU 1-1, Baylor 0-3, BYU 1-7, Texas 2-2! (But 4 turnovers), OU 2-4

    Forgive me if these stats aren’t 100% I just scanned the game logs on ESPN. I think KU will be better off without freshman Furphy, especially second half Furphy. I do believe he could’ve been a great player in another couple years. But as a freshmen he couldn’t carry himself in the second half, much less the team.



  • He has great potential, with another year in college he will be much better prepared to have a solid foundation and decent NBA career.



  • The arguments here have all been good.



  • Furphy has been invited to the NBA draft combine along with Jalen Wilson.



  • @approxinfinity said in You know it's a big day:

    The arguments here have all been good.

    https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale

    /end argument



  • @Gorilla72 I was confused and then realized that you meant Kevin McCullar.



  • I expect Furphy to go second half of the first round or first half of the second round unless something magical happens at the combine / tryouts.



  • I would be surprised if Furphy wasnt a first rounder. Also would be surprised if it was top half of first.



  • @BShark The question is whether to get instant gratification or have a long NBA career. Real money is made in 2nd/3rd contract.

    He can get picked in mid to late first round, but he will most likely be warming the bench or playing in G league.

    After a few months he may be traded and move around before disappearing.

    His parents seem to be doing well in the sense that he does not need money right away to support them, so even without NIL he can wait to get real money and get drafted much higher and have a longer NBA career.



  • @AsadZ I agree, but 1st round contracts are fully guaranteed. That’s the allure and we live in an instant gratification society.



  • @AsadZ said in You know it's a big day:

    @BShark The question is whether to get instant gratification or have a long NBA career. Real money is made in 2nd/3rd contract.

    He can get picked in mid to late first round, but he will most likely be warming the bench or playing in G league.

    After a few months he may be traded and move around before disappearing.

    His parents seem to be doing well in the sense that he does not need money right away to support them, so even without NIL he can wait to get real money and get drafted much higher and have a longer NBA career.

    Over half the league has played in the G-League at some point and that number will keep going up as the old guard keeps retiring. Furphy being drafted later in the 1st round means he is very likely going to championship contending team. With all but 1 franchise having their own direct G-League affiliate (Phoenix is that 1 team that doesn’t), that means those coaches down there are developing players in line with what the NBA coaches vision is and Furphy would get relevant minutes against very good players in what is probably the second best basketball league in the world.



  • We all seem to forget that in the old days few people expected freshmen to do much other than to make mistakes, learn and eventually become sophomores. Extensive changes in strength, training and conditioning both in HS and private programs have made incoming freshmen much stronger over the years. Furphy looked all year like the freshmen we got back in the 60’s and 70’s.



  • The sooner you are drafted, the quicker you get to the theoretical second contract. Another year in college won’t change anything. The team that drafts him will invest time/resources into him as a first round pick. They want first round picks to work out. Those teams have great s&c programs/resources. He can focus on basketball year round and not have to worry about classes.



  • @patoh3 - Oh. Oops.


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