🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@KUSTEVE said:

@DoubleDD Coach Rat went 9 years w/o a Final Four..Self goes 3 years, and we're calling for his head...

Exactly.......and to go a step further, Self is in his 13th season at KU

In his previous 12 seasons he has made the big dance every year.

And he's has advanced to the Elite 8 or better in five of those 12 appearances.

But he hasn't done it for two seasons.

And we were 1-1 this year.......and the sky was following.......so out came the pitch forks and torches.

UCONN wins the title one year. Goes 0-1 the next year, misses the tournament the next two and then wins it again.

Plus they have four 14 loss or higher seasons in the past 12 years - not to mention NCAA sanctions - but people say they'd trade our consistency for an extra title or two.........

While at the same time coming out the other side of their mouth is verbiage that we have "only" went 1-1 in the dance the last two seasons after making the title game twice in the prior six seasons.

Just my opinion, but I don't think KU fans would be happy if we missed 4 tournaments in 12 seasons. Regardless of whether we won three titles in that time or not.

We had we people b!tch!ng that we had 10 loss seasons in the last two.......while conveniently forgetting we also had the nation's toighest strength of schedule in those years and did it with a very young and inexperienced team.

Unbelievable to me.......but to each their own, I guess.

And @jaybate-1.0 I so badly wanted to comment that you had put some cheese in the trap when I read your post early this morning .......but I didn't want to scare the away anyone that it might catch!

Ulis didn't play badly. He wasn't hitting shots, but defense was a big part of that. But the injury probably hurt too.

Ulis' biggest problem was that he had no help. UCLA completely took Murray out of the game and then he lost his composure.

They lost Lee in the first half due to concussion.

And the biggest issu was despite their lethargic style, Parker and Welsh just out worked Kentucky in the paint. More hustle, more resolve, more success.

When UCLA made their runs, it was because Kentucky was getting many consecutive one shot possessions.

And when Kentucky made that shot on a few possessions to close the gap, UCLA would hit a big three or get an and-one.

Kentucky was rattled. And when they got rattled it snowballed. It is common to question a call from time to time.......but their players were holding their arms out asking "what?" On almost every call.......really felt like Calipari's coachmanship of politicking every call rubbed off on his team and that it negatively impacted them.

And with Murray (attitude) and Lee (injury) being non-factors, the three headed snake didn't have any fangs.....and it then became the Ulis show., which UCLA could handle.

Good news - and as @Crimsonorblue22 commented - they got exposed.

Bad news is that they got it out of their system and they will learn from it.

I will say that the demeanor of their team leads me to believe they could crumble and lose confidence if Vandy, Florida, LSU......... could gang up and hang some conference losses on them......I hope that happens before the last week in January.

If the score holds someone needs to scour the UK message boards and us apprised of their angst!

UCLA's got to finish though......another 5 mins!

@Crimsonorblue22
Just goes to show that on any given nite someone can beat anyone!

Interesting watching a game in Pauley Pavilillion........lots of history but so much of a different environment than Allen Field House.

Student section is loud but removed from the court on the end zone.

Rest of the crowd is acting like they are in church.

Different world out there.

Oscar Robertson and Jerry West sitting next to each other. Jamaal Wilkes in the house. As is Jessica Alba........her father in law was a point guard on two Bruin NCAA Championship team.......Michael Warren.

Ulis is playing.

About 3/4 way through the 1st half and I think that if we can make Kentucky regularly operate offensively from a half court set and make them exert energy on the defensive end then we will be just fine.

They want to force tempo and turn it into a a high possession track meet.

We need to push tempo when the opening is there, but we will have to be careful not to let them suck us into a helter skelter up tempo game.

And by the way, what a bunch of whiners the Kitties are!.......complaining about every call. The players seem to be mimicking Calipari's sideline demeanor while they are on the court.

A little off topic here........but here are some other lesser known streaks we are a part of.

Kansas holds the current NCAA record for......

Consecutive 30 win seasons - 4 - 2010-2013

Consecutive 25 win seasons - 10 - tied with UCLA 67-76; UNLV 83-92; KU 2006-current......we should break this record this year.

Current Consecutive 20 Win Seasons - 26 - 1990-Current (Longest consecutive 20 win season Streak is held by North Carolina at 31 seasons, but it ended in 2001.)

We have to be careful when comparing these streaks to historical references because we play more games than they did 10, 15, 20 + years ago.

But in regard to consistency and relative to our peers during the past 26 years........we are the top dog.

Or perhaps it is a realistic understanding and acceptance that the best team doesn't usually win the NCAA tournament.

Yes, it should be what we expect and fight every year, but the fact that we won't/don't win it every year doesn't mean we failed or that our season was not great.

Reduce the number of entries to 16 teams and play a best of five series with home and away games in all 4 rounds and then the best team will have a great shot of winning it every year.

But that would kill the universal appeal of the tournament, because the most mid-majors and below would never get entry in to the event.......let alone the opportuntiy to win a game or two and feel like Cinderella for a weekend or two.

The two represent very different achievements.

A conference championship represents consistent success throughout an entire 18 game conference season playing against teams and coaches who know your team and your tendencies inside and out........but despite that they still can't figure out how to dethrone you. It is a marathon. Multiply that by 11 straight marathon wins and that is special.

The NCAA tournament is a crapshoot. And a sprint. . It is about a very good team combining great effort, short run consistency, likely a a couple of hot shooting nites, lots of momentum and some luck into a 6-0 run. But the NCAA tournament is also the measuring stick that all will gauge your team by in perpetuity even though the best team doesn't usually win that tournament. on any given day one team can beat another. The tournament also has a way of pitting great teams against match-ups that may be an Achilles heal for them (and that other top teams may be better suited to handle). Plus when any higher seeded team gets knocked off (especially in an early round) it changes the dynamics of the bracket for the rest of the tournament.....thus creating an equalizer of sorts.

To answer your question, the final four would be my choice over the two.

But I will also say that an eleven year (and running) string of conference titles (especially in a power 5 conference) is a beyond extraordinary achievement.......and one I think much of our fans base has begun to take for granted.

I will also say - despite my preference for a final four over a continuation of our conference title streak - is that the best time to stop being excited about a conference streak like ours is the day that it ends.

Bill Self once stated in an interview that conference titles were important to him. I forget his exact wording, but something to the effect that not every team he puts on the floor will be good enough to win the national championship.......but that he feels he can turn every team he coaches into a conference champion and be able to send those guys out as winners. I can't recall when he said it, it may have been before our title in 08.......

It would be interesting to me to hear how Bill Self would answer your question today.

Hypothesize and therorize all you want. That is what these message boards are for.

But at some point put your arm around this year's team and let our coach operate outside of your microscope without condemnation for something that may or may not happen 30 games from now.

There will be ups, there will be downs. But for goodness sakes at least stop wishing for something different long enough to enjoy what we do have.

Selden and Mason named co-MVPs.

No word yet on whether Cheick's leaving the bench to mug Bragg got him most inspirational?!?!?

Maybe a little Rope-a-Dope in there too. We absorbed a lot of body blows in the first half, but clenched enough to keep it close while we made their bigs work.

Second half we opened up tempo and wore them down.

Once they went zone, we had them beat.

Haven't gotten to say that about the Jayhawks for several years.

@Lulufulu

That look said......I am one bad man!

@wissoxfan83

Thanks!

Hopefully this success will give him the confidence that provides consistency. He can do it, but he doesn't seem to remember that all the time.

@wissoxfan83

will have to do it while listening instead of watching next week as I am blacked out.

@wissoxfan83 sure.....happy to help!

@DinarHawk

It was a reverse MSU. Rough first half, strong second half.

Not many assists tonite

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@VailHawk

battery is going to make it!

Never thought we could be in this position with Perry being a relative non factor

Wasn't a bad defensive series despite the rebound and points. Good d and milked a lot of clock. Score here and we'll be set!

Starting to slip away?

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Shift change!

@KUSTEVE the wind is what gets you

But, yes, the cement ponds get frosty

@VailHawk still a nice course. Drought has hurt the greens in some years, but still a special course for NW KS

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We've got them flustered They haven't seen adversity yet this year.

@VailHawk Hays America

@VailHawk

Nex-Tech Wireless is my cell phone company.

@VailHawk thanks for looking out for me!

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@Lulufulu

drive until it collapses, kick it out and drain it!

Were going to wear them down.

@Bwag Vandy plays 12 guys as a regular part of their rotation.

@VailHawk we'll limp thru the 2nd half.....lol

Umm, yeah, but Mick, Bragg and Lucas have combined for 2 points. And Bragg and Mick have both looked outmatched.

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@ZIG

Looked like he wanted to pass but Frank told him the clock was winding down.

Vandy's defense is going to make us earn this.

Good news is that we are not playing well but are still in good shape. We are going to wear them down.

Mick hustles and tries hard, but he is out of control a lot of the time.

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Just glad that Self followed through on his recruitment. Would have been easy for him to back off when reports started coming out about potential eligibility issues last April........Just glad we got him signed and went to bat and got him cleared!