🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Okay The Kansas Jayhawks lost a round of 32 game in the NCAA Tournament to Wichita State. Now we have posters angry and upset and looking for someone to blame. Wanting to blame the coach and the players. Some have resorted to name calling. Really? Does it make you feel better or change the outcome of the game?

The only ones to blame are yourselves. Why would I say something like that? Because it is true.

Every year fans get it in their head that their team will win it all. And for what? Only to be let down when it doesn't happen.
Losing sucks, we all know that. How about embracing each victory, instead of acting like its a birthright.

Talent can get you to the Dance. Heart and hustle can win it for you.

@KansasComet said:

Talent can get you to the Dance. Heart and hustle can win it for you.

I believe that's why most of us are ticked.

Our team showed very little heart and hustle. Was it the OU game that we hustled, fought, scrapped, left it all out on the court and lost by one or two points? I think almost everyone here was very pleased with that game. The team fought hard, gave it everything they had and lost. Simple.

Most of the other games this season we either lost gigantic leads or just played with our heads in the clouds and really didn't play hard at all. That's what I can't tolerate.

@KansasComet

I think there is a little extra turbulence this year because we lost to an in-state rival. But regardless of who we lost to, I think all of us feel like this team realistically should have advanced beyond the round of 32. It didn't help that WSU was completely undervalued by the boys that build the brackets. That was a bit harmful to them and us because they had to fight through a tougher scenario and we had to face a team sooner that clearly was better than seeded. Still... that is no excuse.

Many of us keep mentioning Einstein's definition of "insanity"... and I feel like a lot of the frustration in here relates to the idea that we are spinning our wheels, doing the same things that aren't getting us a different result. I feel that way. I feel like our coaching strategy works great if we have a team full of junior and senior 5-star players. Those days are over. Yes... if we had Wigs and a healthy JoJo this year, we'd still be playing ball.

Is this an issue about recruiting OAD players? Or is it that we are teaching a philosophy that takes a long learning curve but OADs and TADs are not here long enough to make good on it? Or is it that we don't have the right assistant coaches that should be here because they know how to develop instead of just recruit?

I feel like we've lost too many games in March to lesser opponents during the Self era. This is just my opinion. And maybe it doesn't wash when comparing to Roy or Larry. I know part of it is my crimson/blue eyewear.

@HighEliteMajor has made a huge campaign this year for change. I like many of his ideas. I think most of us question if it was a good idea for Self to largely abandon the 3-pt shot. I think we all realize that this relates to more things than a basic offensive strategy... this related to core beliefs that Self struggles with inside. His background is ALL defense. He'll sit a guy that brings insane offensive abilities if the guy won't play tough enough defense.

We have a coach that is the absolute best at winning conference championships. But over time, we see a mixed bag when it comes to March competitiveness. Can that gap be bridged? Can Self find a way to coach conference championships AND March success?

This year I received some education into Kansas fundraising. I had no idea how much time Self had to give towards raising $$$ for the athletic department. I've come to realize that this is becoming too much burden for him to carry just on his shoulders. But the facts are there... Kansas basketball is the money maker at Kansas. I think we all need to realize that we are giving up some basketball success because our football program does not generate enough revenue. Moving forward, this really has to be addressed. I'm starting to feel like Self is the next EJ: the guy who made the ultimate sacrifices and then gets blamed for failures that shouldn't be on his plate. I'm not giving Self a free ride. I believe there is more he can do without adding on extra time and effort to his already-packed schedule. What I am saying is that we need to address the entire picture of Kansas athletics to find the right answers to move forward.

We do need to make changes... and it needs to be more than an Obama campaign slogan! (sorry for throwing in the politics, but I though it might kick up a bigger response!)

@drgnslayr

Is this an issue about recruiting OAD players? Or is it that we are teaching a philosophy that takes a long learning curve but OADs and TADs are not here long enough to make good on it? Or is it that we don't have the right assistant coaches that should be here because they know how to develop instead of just recruit?italicised text

Yes, it is. Coach Self is outstanding but we could use some new thinking on the O side of the ball. But now is not the time to pile on. Believe me, our coach and players are hurting bad...

Is Snacks gone? Could that open up a slot for an OC (do any BB teams have this role?)

Certainly we need to shoot more threes and be able to play better one-on-one spread O but also a spread D man-to-man. Both ISU and WSU ate our lunch with individual match ups in the second halves of the last games we lost. Team D was peaking...or so I thought.

Watch WSU beat ND and then the ultimate match up with UK (re last year's match). WSU has been very good the last three years and could now be considered the best in the State. KU has slipped just a little and the Big 12 is not quite the powerhouse we thought it was.

Let's see how WVU can create havoc with UK...wish they only had a day to prepare instead of a week...

@jayhawk-007

I'm thinking WVU can be a big help for WSU. I know Calipari has to spend his week beating the press only. No thoughts about facing WSU again, just trying to get past WVU.

I think both of these teams can give Kentucky problems. Will they? Who knows. I look at it like if UK had to play each of these teams 10 times, how many would they win? 9? Even if it is 9, if both of these teams have a 10% chance of winning, it isn't automatic that UK makes it into the FF.

@drgnslayr

I am afraid no one is even close to UK and they probably have the two best teams in the nation! Better than even Vegas odds to win the tourney at the outset (never been seen before in the history of the game).

We gotta cheer for WSU in the next two rounds (heresy for KU fans, I know)...

@jayhawk-007 I hope Notre Dame beats them 97-2.

@drgnslayr thanks. I believe our best teams are the ones loaded with highly rated junior and senior talent. I think we have a lot to look forward to next year.

@KansasComet

I agree with you that board rats ought to cheer up and stop calling names. I'm happy as a clam (oops, i just called myself a clam, disregard that) right now. I don't see why everyone is so glum and/or angry.

I will always be ecstatic with 26-9 and a conference title, especially when we have no rim protector and no b2b players, lots of injuries, the suspension of one of our OADs down the stretch, and a shoe-agent complex relationship not correlated strongly with 9-10 draft choice roster stacks!

26-9 with one of the youngest teams in the country playing nearly the toughest schedule in the country and with the aforementioned shortcomings?

ITS. A. FLIPPING. MIRACLE.

And I am speaking as one that predicted before the season started, even without anticipating most of the adversity this team faced, that the team was missing a lot of pieces and so would likely lose ten games, or more. So: factoring in all of the adversity that so many others here seem simply to view as some dandruff, I am DELIGHTED with the 9-loss season, and only briefly saddened at watching the wheels come off, after our star player was victimized by an elbow smash against Chita State.

Regarding Chita State, I can't speak for others, but I look on the KU-Chita State relationship as a win-win. They put the spurs to us, and I, at least, get to satirize how they did it.

Speaking of which, don't forget the upcoming basketball clinic being given in Wichita this Thursday night in a dark warehouse at the edge of town by a leading expert in basketball cheap shotting, whose name has not yet been revealed to the public, or myself. The three top presentations are reputedly going to be: "The New Dribble-Drive and Smash Offense," "How to Smash the Nose of the Opponent's Star Player without Getting Ejected," and "Classless Post Victory Sniping at Losing Coaches." All the proceeds of the clinic will go to the "The Cheap Shot Foundation for Sinus Reconstructive Surgery." Be there.

(Note: all fiction and satire about the clinic. No malice. No bullying.)

Yeeeee hawwwww!

KU didn't get it done this time against Chita State, but there WILL be a next time for that without EVER having to waste a slot on our regular season schedule with them. (Note: keep ignoring them and building our RPI and recruiting exposure, Coach.)

Trust me: the NCAA seeding committee will see to a rematch!

Remember: Self has a habit the last eleven years of squaring scores and coming out ahead on the W&L statement.

Rock Chalk and be of good cheer, Jayhawk nation.

Its sweet to be alive!

@jayhawk-007

"Let's see how WVU can create havoc with UK...wish they only had a day to prepare instead of a week..."

Yep... the bad thing for WVU is that UK has a week to prepare. If they had been the second game on a weekend, UK wouldn't have time to prepare.

Most people don't see it... but the twins still have plenty of weaknesses. They have improved quite a bit this year, but they can still play sour ball.

Good comments! RCJH! This team actually overachieved but it could have been a very special year if Cliff had developed and played the last third of the season, and Perry had not got hurt, and we had jacked a few more threes per game, and we had not met this false 7 seed so early, and...

Great website and blog posting by everyone, we had another good (but not great) year...to be continued.

@jaybate-1.0

Good post! That's the JB we know and love...you and HEM get the gold star for analysis, with several others close behind.