🏀 KuBuckets Archive

"This is one of the more remarkable accomplishments in modern college sports, especially in basketball, where there's so much turnover and parity," Scott Drew said. "For 14 straight years, they were able to win a championship. Five of the last six years, it's been ranked as the No. 1 conference, RPI-wise. To be able to do that streak in the No. 1 conference is a true testament to the players they have, Coach Self and their fans. That's remarkable. Nobody does this nowadays.

"It's a lot harder to win a regular-season championship than a postseason tournament. Two games, three games -- people can string that together. But 18 games over January, February and early March is tough, and a lot of those years, it wasn't close."

I know some were lambasting the title, but it’s a good read. I hope it offers some perspective to some hurting fans.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26146594/how-kansas-big-12-supremacy-unraveled ↗

@dylans Agreed, I'm not as upset that we lost the streak more upset with how we lost it. It was gonna end at some point. Maybe this is what we need to move forward and focus on being better in the NCAA tournament. Our teams have put a lot into not being the team to mess it up so maybe it can be spun positive for the next few seasons.

@dylans I know lon said something nice, maybe he was asked after the game and put on the spot🤔

I'm not as upset about losing it as i am about who's winning it.

@nuleafjhawk geez they are hysterical. Saw ding dong the witch is dead.😭 we are such a huge part of KSU the k and u.

First words I heard this morning upon walking into work - " KU LOST !!". Really? Are you 12? Beat us another 100 times consecutively and then we'll talk.

@nuleafjhawk I'd love it if those bastards choked it away Saturday. All sorts of shit talking going on this morning in person and on Facebook/Twitter. From WSU aswell, I told them losers good luck in the NIT lol. KSU is looking for their first conference championship out right since 1977.

Wonder if KSU has already started making DVDs

@kjayhawks

They would have made them anyway

kjayhawks said:

Wonder if KSU has already started making DVDs

Already on shelves at Dillons. Decade of Dominance: How KSU Beat KU for 10+ years...

loool

@BShark Decade of Dumbass, more like it. Several decades, actually. They would have made a DVD if they had come in fourth. Low expectations ...............

@kjayhawks My guess is OU will go 2 for 38 from the 3 pt line, 4-33 from the free throw line. They used up every spare point that we need for them to have on Saturday.

Go Texas Tech!

Go Oklahoma!

Come on football season

@nuleafjhawk That's the joke.

@BShark I'm sorry - what's the joke? Besides this season...

@nuleafjhawk That KSU is so desperate they would call being ranked ahead of KU one year a decade of dominance.

BShark said:

@nuleafjhawk That KSU is so desperate they would call being ranked ahead of KU one year a decade of dominance.

I didn't get that joke. Because I thought the joke was them not being able to accurately count to 1...

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article227160384.html ↗

Really good article here from Jesse Newell. Pretty much what I was saying last night in the game thread.

Let's just hope we don't embarrassingly tear down the goal posts next fall when we beat KSU in football. Kind of the same thing.

@HighEliteMajor I agree, although I don't think it's the same because KU has been so terrible in football. KSU has been decent in BB since 06 and beat 5 times since. It's really not all that shocking that a team full of seniors can beat out a KU with some of their best players not able to go.

HighEliteMajor said:

Let's just hope we don't embarrassingly tear down the goal posts next fall when we beat KSU in football. Kind of the same thing.

If KU does beat KSU next year in football it will happen sadly.

This last time they had an army of people protecting it. But something tells me that just won't work if their are more than 100 students in the stands next season.

@Woodrow I wonder what @Jesse-Newell meant from this line?

"The 2018-19 Jayhawks just haven’t inherited the swagger of their predecessors, though. Because they were so light on players with experience — after some departures, only reserves Mitch Lightfoot and Marcus Garrett remained as returning guys from last year’s Big 12 title-winning team — they haven’t yet seemed to fully embrace the responsibility of being the keepers of The Streak that previous squads did."

Doke and Vick returned as well. I don't get why he said Mitch and Marcus were the only returnees.

@wissox I think he meant the departures were Doke and Vick.

@wissox I think he didn't mention them because they aren't playing.

@wissox yes, because they aren't any help sitting out.

I look at this season as KU bb ...Part 1. There is much more that's going to come for these guys in the future. They are paying dues now that will be cashed in a big time way in the future. If this as bad as it gets, I think I'm doing pretty well. If there was any way that Doke could hang for one more year...omg. Even if he doesn't, the experience we'll bring back will be very formidable. Then we'll start a new conference streak next year.

@wissox like others have mentioned I assume because those two are not playing. That quote is exactly what I was talking about when I said Freshman don’t have the equity in the program yet.

It’s also should be mentioned that payers like Sherron, Frank, and Devonte don’t grow on trees. Dotson might become that but unfortunately he doesn’t have a upper class and to show him the ropes.

Woodrow said:

@wissox like others have mentioned I assume because those two are not playing. That quote is exactly what I was talking about when I said Freshman don’t have the equity in the program yet.

It’s also should be mentioned that payers like Sherron, Frank, and Devonte don’t grow on trees. Dotson might become that but unfortunately he doesn’t have a upper class and to show him the ropes.

Frank and Devonte didn't have senior mentors either. They had to figure out the leadership part on their own.

We're coming off 3 straight 30 win seasons, 2 E 8s, and a Final Four. With 14 straight conference championships sprinkled on top. For us, this is Skid Row. Oh my goodness, the clinching of teeth. Our rebuild year is a 4 seed. Oh the agony and pain...death, where is thy sting?

Well this team is going to have to live with the fact that they were the ones who broke the longest streak in D1 b-ball. Of course not wholly their fault. I truly hope they manage to have a deep run in the tourney to help mitigate this.

@KUSTEVE We are spoiled rotten by consistent success over a very long term. And, while the highest of expectations, i.e., national championships, with the rarest of 20 year exceptions, are dashed, we are assuaged at least in part by conference championships, NCAA POY candidates and fan favorites, and frequent deep NCAA tourney runs (we can argue about living up to seedings).

Relative to those perhaps inflated expectations, this season has been more than disappointing and disconcerting. We were ranked #1 preseason (at least in the top 3-4). This was expected to be, by far, the deepest team Self has had in years. The B12 had supposedly lost most of its top talent and was going to be down. Recall many of the early posts - talk of undefeated season or at least in the conference.

So, to not only not come close to the heightened expectations, but to have the conference championship streak end (and to KSU!), with likely a 10 loss season facing us, as well as the potential for an early tournament exit, well, the hand-wringing, angst and utter despair is somewhat understandable.

On the other hand, looked through another prism, this might be one of the best coaching jobs of Self's career. Doke for only 9 games. No Silvio at all. Head case LaGerald. A lot of external distractions. Starting 4 freshman for much of the back half of the season, one of whom wasn't expected to play at all this year, and another who seemingly didn't come to play too many nights. A team with, as it turns out, has very little NBA talent.

Given that, if we end up with 25+ wins, and maybe a Sweet 16, and with everything that can wrong does, well, you are right...that's a helluva "down" year.....

Thanks all for clearing up my braincramp.

Next year: Dotson/ Grimes / Ochai / KJ / Charlie / Dave / Prison Mitch / Marcus / and maybe Doke. That's alot of experience coming back. Then add in our freshmen, and we should be really stout next year. This year will pay off for years.

KUSTEVE said:

We're coming off 3 straight 30 win seasons, 2 E 8s, and a Final Four. With 14 straight conference championships sprinkled on top. For us, this is Skid Row. Oh my goodness, the clinching of teeth. Our rebuild year is a 4 seed. Oh the agony and pain...death, where is thy sting?

Yeah, I was actually expecting to be more disappointed by it ending. But it isn't painful since I guess I have always known it is inevitable.

Whaddya think Joe D's primary reaction was? "Thank God it's over!" is one possibility. But I bet it was "Get another hit tomorrow--or 3 or 4." It cetainly wasn't "WAAAAHHHHH!!!"

@mayjay You know, a longer than expected run in the tournament would cure all ills.

you know looking back on this year - - makes it a bit harder to understand about problems an streak continuing this year.

3rd- - - in FG %- - - - - - 4th- - - in FT % - - - -4th- - - in 3 pt %- - - - -2nd- - -- in Scoring offense

The big problem looks like for us - - Ball control - - TO'S - - -w rank 8th in the conference - -and right in the middle in rebounding - -5th - - frustrating -- overall not really that bad. - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY

Context: Undefeated on home and neutral courts this season! 3-8 on the road- yuck.

Best news I can announce: NO MORE ROAD GAMES THIS SEASON!!!

dylans said:

Context: Undefeated on home and neutral courts this season! 3-8 on the road- yuck.

Best news I can announce: NO MORE ROAD GAMES THIS SEASON!!!

Those neutral court games were early season with Doke still healthy.

I don't even know if Kansas wins a B12 tournament game this season. We won't know who the opponent is until after Saturday, but it'll be either ISU, Texas, or Oklahoma. My money would be on Texas being the opponent and needing a win to keep their tournament hopes alive.

Texas and roach is back

@Texas-Hawk-10 Don’t rain on my parade. Dok was hurt for 4 of the early games with and ankle injury before going out for the season with a wrist. So not all of the games were won with Dok. (Silver lining to your rain storm)

@dylans The "neutral" court game Doke missed was the Sprint Center game against NMSU where there was a giant Jayhawk logo at center court.

I don't trust this team outside of AFH because they haven't given a reason to be trusted outside of AFH.

If the team that played at OU shows up again, we r done. I didn't know that team!

Crimsonorblue22 said:

If the team that played at OU shows up again, we r done. I didn't know that team!

same one that went to Texas Tech too

@Texas-Hawk-10 Plus you have the pressure of the NCAA tournament. Younger teams often have a hard time in the tourney..especially against an experienced, lower seeded team. If we are a 4 or a 5....look out as the opponent will be a good team. Lipscomb, etc.

Hawk8086 said:

@Texas-Hawk-10 Plus you have the pressure of the NCAA tournament. Younger teams often have a hard time in the tourney..especially against an experienced, lower seeded team. If we are a 4 or a 5....look out as the opponent will be a good team. Lipscomb, etc.

I'm almost positive the media is going to pin KU on upset alert no matter who the opponent is in the first round. I can't say I blame them but Self better do whatever he can to block these kids from reading about it or it will go to their head. They let Tech & K-St winning on Monday night affect them in Norman just a day later. Hopefully I'm wrong here but this team is as fragile mentally as any I've ever seen

The tourney is such a crapshoot. We could have the road paved for us like some cinderellas have over the years when big teams get upset as always happens. Or we could run into someone who has watched our tape and is ready to exploit our weaknesses, which could mean an earlier than expected exit.

@wissox that's the beauty of it, if anyone here before the tournament started last year said KSU was going to the elite 8, we would shunned them lol. We all figured a second loss to Virginia was most likely. I'm not banking on anything from us this season, depends on our match ups. I've only picked KU to lose in the first round 1 time and it was accurate in 2006 with Bradley. I saw a team with a ton more experience and size. Some give me a hard time for picking us to lose but in bracket challenges that involve money, I do what I think is most likely not what i want to happen.

I'll be freakin ecstatic if we win one game this tournament. Low expectations but imo realistic ones given the roster's ceiling. If Self makes the 2nd weekend with this group give the guy another raise

@BeddieKU23 If Bill Self makes the sweet 16 with these guys, he cements himself even more as one of the best in the game. Its amazing to look back at some of the teams he was able to win the conference with. There is just so much negativity with this team and I hate it. Not saying I haven't been negative but with all the bad news surrounding this program right now. I'm pleased that we haven't gone completely under like WV or ISU seems to be. I'm more disappointed in how we lost the B12 title not becuase we did. IMO we haven't played with enough energy and fire on the road, whoch can happen with young teams but is still frustrating. I just hope the FieldHouse is full Saturday and we can close out another undefeated season in there. I'd be shocked if its a true sellout, when I went to the OSU game, there were more empty seats than I have ever seen in that place and I've been to a Wednesday game vs Holy Cross. There were 8 seats right behind us that no one ever used and at least 15 of the wood seat backs about half way up empty, several up in the each corner and some empty throughout the place. If I was to guess there was a minimum of 100 seats open. Everyone needs to go if able and support our team and university. Even if we are in a down year of finishing 3rd and winning 20 plus games, lol that sounds funny when you think about it.

I'll be there

KU is at a 9 man rotation with 7 of those 9 players in their first year playing for KU. Garrett and Lightfoot are the only 2 guys who played a minute last year for KU.

There was always a steep curve trying to integrate that many new players into the program at once.