🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@Blown

True - funny how things can turn out (especially when you have a great coach )

Wonder what’s going thru Colby and Whitman’s head right now.. what they could have been part of and contributed towards especially with the Preston sadness.

Yes good article about newman- I wonder how many top ranked kids and their parents would want this message. Self puts up with nothing. His way or highway. May be just easier to go to lesser school, play a lot during your one mandatory season, regardless of real improvement, protect the goods, and then declare. It says a lot about Newman and his dad that they both realized buying completely into HOFCBS was the path.
And now Newman is our scoring, defense playing, hustling, passing, rebounding (did I say scoring?) stud. He was arguably my least favorite player this year.. now I am sold. And in awe of him. Jayhawk for life even though he is gone after this year.

Not so with some of our other past raw talent guys who didn’t or couldnt buy in. The Brannon Greene’s etc.

@HighEliteMajor

True- newman did look, as you wrote about at length a while back, like a chemistry-killer bent on improving his NBA stock above all else.

He is now our stud scorer in the tourney on top of being a system guy.

@mayjay
Right - good point

Looks like Silvio was a good recruiting decision by self and the staff.
He may become a monster player. Very tough and athletic.

I was at the nova -TT game today. Tech never got Untracked in my opinion, and they made poor offensive desicions down the stretch.
Nova flat outplayed them in the last 8 minutes. Smarter play on both sides of the court. They are a good good team

So are we

We’re playing defense and out rebounding teams now?? On top of the shooting ?

Wow

Well said - thanks

Would Newman be considered the best KU transfer ever?

@cragarhawk

Wow you were there huh?
Good seats too

Awesome

What a win! What a year! Short handed team, playing in the toughest conf in D1 and STILL WINNING 14 straight B12 championships, and then beating Dookie to go to FF??

And who is the best transfer to come to KU ever?? Thinking... thinking...

@kjayhawks

Ha ha - my heart was jumping out of my chest...
these guys one day are going to,kill,me

But what a way to go 😂

Wow

Holy schneikes - I needed a Xanax ... watching that Grayson shot roll in the hoop and out. i Damn near hit the floor.

But - we just beat duke !!!!!

Is this season great or what ?

Heart attack .... wow
The usual.

Could this be a sign? In 2008 Curry almost beat us but he missed ... Grayson missed.

Now What if we blow out Villanova? :)

@loyolstud88

At least get the damn team you are trolling correct- seriously? How hard is that? Basic BASIC stuff!
Where did you get your education? Loyola chicago???

Although I admit I had to look up Loyola chicago.
One of 4 Loyola schools in the US apparently - no wonder I had no idea.

Thanks for your entertaining and laughable post though- always a refreshing aside to entertain this board with posts like this.

Yes I too seem to be rooting a lot for B12 teams in the tourney. Not a conscious decision, just happens.

Yesterday I was at the garden. Rooted for WVU amidst a sea of Villy fans (probably 60-40 Villanova fans there) they built a small lead, then did their classic crumble in the last 8 minutes. Huggy bear cant get over the hump.

And then watched TT beat Purdue- lots of TT fans there actually. Fun!

So yes I probably will root for K-state ..

I’m worried about all the self-can't-get-past-elite-8 posts coming if we do lose. Should be a tough tough game. And yep if we hit our shots, we should be 👌

But So far, This has been a great season, let’s face it! Win or lose, been a great ride for me at least.

I’m at the WVU Nova game - Purdue and TT about to start

wVU doesn’t know how to handle a lead - they don’t have the guys who can man up in close games

Place is 60-40 nova fans

Before mr. Bate’s personal history essay on Allen field house, (excellent reading I must say), this thread has quite a few painful memories of KU’s Tourney losses. This touches on arguably the most discussed topic on this site, I.e., As spelled out by HEM, a blue blood school SHOULD In Theory make the final four more often than KU has of late, and how important that is Measuring or evaluating a teams ultimate perceived success. And Which makes for LOTS of painful memories when we fall short... I personally have made my peace with KU and the tourney. The best teams quite often don’t win it or even make the final four on a statistically reliable basis. College kids Having to win 6 games in a row where all kinds of things can happen is just plain HARD no matter how great you seem to be on paper.

Yes we are blue blood, yes we have a top tier legendary coach and yes get enough of a blend of top players at all positions pretty consistently. But that does not necessarily translate into making the final four or winning it all.

SO is the Tourney essentially a source of probable pain for us? How much pain vs how much pleasure and fan fulfillment are you all getting out of it in comparison the the pleasure and fulfillment and excitement you get out of the regular season? Is it your favorite part of the whole season? For those who lean heavily towards the winning the-NCAA-is-the-only-thing-that-matters view of d1 basketball, pain and disappointment must be a familiar feeling.

I’m sure one year in the next 10 to 20 years we will win it. But I dont expect it, so when we lose, it doenst stay with me as much as it does apparently with other people.

We have to shoot well... that is the biggest key. Pretty much key for every team, but we aren’t going to overwhelm opponents with superior sustained D or a rebounding advantage, so at least svi, Newman, or devonte have to be ON.
It’s good that we have 3 very good shooters and strong post guy who can score.
Self is right on - hell of a good season in spite of losing Preston

Seton hall got extremely hot at end of game, but we hung on... we have been in a LOT of tough close games this year. We are battle tested!!. Tough division, and tough overall schedule. And Yes we could use some luck too! Maybe Clemson will have a off game.. then Maybe Syracuse will stay red hot and beat dook, then Peter out against us :)

Let’s hope we want Clemson ...up by 30

Seriously ??
Forget North Carolina ... yuck. Yes Roy is a good guy and KU connection, but he has won enough NC’s. Buh BYE
LOVE that they are going down badly... Mi. St too... to Syracuse.. beautiful! now if we can get the Puke Devils to lose...

Hey this just in... did you know the tourney is a crap shoot ??

Our boys have been through the forge of fire this season .. what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger? Right ??
Let’s hope devonte is not worn down - so many brutal minutes.

We need rest. And let’s hope we haven’t shot our wining streak wad ... 5 in a row

@BeddieKU23
Well if we ever get an easy bracket, I hope to be still alive to see it

Is it too much to ask for a nice comfortable 15- 20 pt win, like the other big marquee teams today... ?
Good god these guys are going to give me an infarction

I don’t think seton hall missed a single shot in last 5 minutes

@stoptheflop
yep - me too - always that thought creeping in... especially when KU was down 10 to the Ivy leaguers

If the ncaa tourney format were a 2 of 3 game series, or 3 of 5, Virginia would bounce back and win. But now they will go down in history as the first 1 seed to lose to a 16. Hard to shake that moniker. Virginia will live with it forever.

sooooo Glad it wasn’t us - glad penn didn’t shoot the lights out while we went dead cold.

This is a great example of why college age kids winning 6 games in a row is so damn hard. Luck plays a huge part as with everything else. I love the tourney, but it is NERVE-RACKING, and the older I get, the more nerve-racking it gets for me. Because KU is perennially a top tier team, not making the final weekend is always seen (and feels Like) a big downer way to end what had been a fun, often glorious season (14 conference championships in a row etc, great KU players, the fun, the magic.. the whole wonderful experience of being a fan of arguably the greatest college bball program in history.) wish I could find a way to just enjoy it more rather that be full of nerves... part of it is also the impending knowledge that come what may, November 2018 when our boys start playing again is a LONG way away - although being Nat. Champs would make that wait SO much more fun lol.

One game at a time I suppose, and take it for what it is.. the big ups, and the big downs. Find a way to win and play hard, and hope a few bounces and shots go your way. Completely abandon any thinking like “...wait we should be beating these guys by 30!! ..”

I am going to be super pumped and positive today ;) and on to the final four!

Go ahead and run all the stats and numbers and ranking and power indexes you can run about Virginia compared to UMBC.

It’s still college age kids playing a game against each other. It was eventually bound to happen 1 going down to a 16.

And there you have it... no 1 seed goes down to a 16

welcome to the essential nature of the ncaa hunger games.

Survive and try to advance

Another 13 seed wins... Cah-rap schooooot!

Speaking of auditioning for the NBA... Malik looks to me like he is doing that right now. He forced up some stuff late in yesterdays game when he should have worked the clock. Felt like he was auditioning ... I was naively hoping he would stick around for another year (I always hope they do)
I’m not holding out hope

I totally agree. Our current conf streak is a standout stat in all college sports, and may never be tooped by anyone else at least in D1

Has Silvio missed a free throw yet?
He may be the guy to put in late in a close game if the are going to intentionally foul us

And - perhaps a dumb Q - is Doke expected to return next year?

Speaking of Vick here’s a link to interesting recent article

link text ↗

Recently- now with Hiroshima Dragonflies - not sure what happen with GS Kymis ...anybody know ? i think he was injured for a while

@HighEliteMajor
Toga ! Toga!

@jayhawk-007
Great post I agree with you 100 % - and you are dead right in our conf streak being the biggest achievement.

The ncaa hunger games is indeed a tough road to navigate. Even though we are a “career” district, that don’t mean we can survive. Let’s hope we play well, no injuries, have at least one of our sharpshooters be red hot every game, Doke not get into early foul trouble (and late in close games I suggest we put in deSouza because he can nail free throws) and get some lucky breaks when we need them. And who knows, we may find ourselves in the FF... 😀

@BeddieKU23
Me too – in fact I watched the game again on replay this morning, and pretty much just kept my eyes on both Vick when he was in, and Garrett… Watched Garrett set pics watched Garrett hustle and block out and play defense and get rebounds and drive.. Vick had some nice plays too, but Garrett seems to never take a minute off

Wow- hmmmmm
He seems very distant and not a happy camper, and yes doesn’t seem real jazzed up on court.

Meanwhile garret had a very SOLID game last night

God I love senior night!
This is the essence of what is GREAT about college ball, and KU in particular

Indeedy!!!!!
14 by ourselves -saw-eeeet

@BShark
Those pics tell a million words. That may be the real essence of what Self loves about the game- his relationship with those special guys and being part of thier developement and thier lives. Try getting anything close to that in the NBA

This from article from Fox Sports LAST YEAR when we tied UCLA at 13

“......Winning 13 straight regular-season championships in what’s been one of the toughest conferences in college basketball is a feat separate from national championships, Final Fours or Sweet 16s. It’s a validation of the steadiness, coolness and dominance of the best college basketball team of its era and one of the best runs the sport has ever seen.”

Now it’s 14... and I wonder, due To the recently released allegations in which Kansas was also named, if this singular incredible feat will not be ballyhooed much.

But WE here know how historic this this. We know.😁

This from article in SI from Chris Johnson

“On Saturday, Kansas wasn’t just playing a game with major consequences for this season. It was playing for history. The win ensured the Jayhawks will set a record that doesn’t feel within the grasp of any other high-major program in the near future”

@mayjay
Ha ha - of course I meant by any other d1 team

@BShark
Thanks for the tweet links - LOVE IT

History my friends
History ... let’s hope we all live long fruitful lives and never see this record streak broken - ever

@BShark
Good point - the question is where this would fall off.. what ranking must you have to expect some sort of under the table $ offer

Well this completely explains his ability to almost overnight land top guys.. to Arizona -decidedly not a blue blood program.

I know they are not all expecting some sort of $, but this is why I really have soured on these OAD types...

Self is clean - we will get thru this.

Ok - the conf streak is what it is - an AMAZING achievement. It stands alone and apart, and is historic, and speaks to so much about what is good about our program, and our coach and his system. Will it be broken by another program?? Possibly, but looks now to be unlikely. This may be one of those DiMaggio-esque records. And We are not in a lesser weak division, we are now in one of the strongest current divisions in the NCAA.
Those in the know understand the true awesome nature of this singular achievement. For the vast majority of average college b-ball fans, it’s probably nothing more than a side-note stat.

Would I personally trade a NC for the record? Nope I wouldn’t.

That being said, I really don’t have an answer as to why we seem to be snake-bit when it comes to our supposed prowess and our recent Big dance results lately. We have the players ( Mostly), and we have a great coach, but we can’t seem to put together the needed 5 or 6 games in a row. Duke and NC do get there more often at least fairly recently. What are they doing that is different? Do Roy and Coach K have the secret to getting their guys thru the gauntlet? The combination of team chemistry, health, the right players stepping up at crucial moments, luck, and consistent play which a team needs to win the tourney seems to elude us. The real question is, is this anyone’s real fault? or is it the nature of the tourney ultimately? And yes, Self and KU will ultimately be judged by NC’s and final four appearances. That of course is the nature of all sport. Win the big one, or be an afterthought.

Everyone here would love a National championship, and I suspect 99% here would gladly trade the conf streak for that.

As d-slayer said above, let’s root for both to happen, but I honestly won’t lose too much sleep this year if we flame out early, especially with this particular talented but rebound-challenged, intermittent-D-playing squad. Will lose a lot more sleep if we fumble away the streak when right now we have it easily within reach.

Boy the media guide is a TOME