...if Kruger gets this team to the tournament and/or finishes in the top 4 in conference. I mean in conference, not national.
I agree, but most voters won't give it much thought and will just vote for whoever wins the conference.
I think you have to consider Kruger and Hoiberg right now. Iowa State was picked to finish 8th and we were picked to finish 7th by the coaches. If either finishes in the top 4, or both, the higher one will more than likely get COY.
When Kruger sweeps ISU the Mayor will be eliminated. Go ahead and be positive. It can't hurt.
It's still way, way too early, but there are 4 candidates at the moment: Kruger, Self, Hoiberg and Weber. If Kansas can go 16-2 or better, why shouldn't Self be a candidate? This isn't Kentucky which always has a half dozen NBA players on its roster. I see two from Kansas, so if they run the table or clome close, Self deserves consideration. Both The Mayor and Kruger were picked in the bottom half so they are candidates. Finally, Weber is doing what he always does - win big with another coach's players.
It's still way, way too early, but there are 4 candidates at the moment: Kruger, Self, Hoiberg and Weber. If Kansas can go 16-2 or better, why shouldn't Self be a candidate? This isn't Kentucky which always has a half dozen NBA players on its roster. I see two from Kansas, so if they run the table or clome close, Self deserves consideration. Both The Mayor and Kruger were picked in the bottom half so they are candidates. Finally, Weber is doing what he always does - win big with another coach's players.
I see 3 KU players likely to go in this year's NBA draft and probably at least one or two more that will be drafted in the future.
Okay, let me put it another way. How many Kansas players in the Bill Self era are above average NBA players? I can't think of one. Yet all Self does is win the darn conference every freakin' year. I realize his talent level is still slightly more than everybody else's, but not to the point where his teams are practically unbeatable in conference play. The guy is simply a great coach...and let's all hope he continues to have zero interest in coaching his alma mater.
There aren't a ton of superstars in the NBA from Kansas, but Kansas has 14 players on NBA rosters. The entire Big 12 has 40 current NBA players. So Kansas has 35% of NBA players from the Big 12. It's not surprising they win the conference every year.
Kentucky, Duke, and UNC are the only schools in the nation with more. And in Self's time at KU, all 3 of those schools have won the National Championship the same number of times, or more times than Kansas has.
I'm not saying Self isn't a good coach - he clearly is. But there are a lot of coaches that could have sustained success at Kansas.
I said he's definitely a good coach. There's no arguing that. And when I said "a lot of coaches could have sustained success at Kansas," I didn't mean 50% of coaches. But there are probably about 20 or so active coaches right now who could win 25+ games a year at KU.
WaymanFan seemed to be implying that there's not that big a talent gap between KU and the rest of the Big 12. But the fact is, there's a huge one. He certainly makes that talent better, but he starts in a much better position than every other coach in the conference.