Welcome, from the least knowledgeable (me) of the most knowledgeable fan base in the world of sports. I'm glad you were able to avoid being stained by the darkness of a Missouri upbringing and see the KU light.
wissoxfan83
3027 posts
So are there any closet misery or Silo Tech (kstate for you young fellers) fans here?
I will never mention the Badgers here again, but I am totally pumped for a KU-UW final in which Frank the Tank blocks an Alexander dunk at the buzzer, but the refs blow a whistle and Alexanders Jam time band strikes up. Bo blows a gasket which lands him in a casket, Big Alex makes the FT's for Self's 2nd NC, and a Bo-less UW shrinks back into obscurity thus leaving me no choice but to whole heartedly, undividedly cheering for KU.
Growing up in Chicago, my first hoops love was Illinois. I suffered through many good Lou Henson teams with disappointing ends to the season. Lou was able to recruit the state of Illinois fairly well and was successful as a result.
After Lou left, Lon Kruger came to town, was fairly successful, making an elite 8 run.
Then Bill came in and kept the goods for himself. The Illini soared and if it wasn't for the refs letting Sean May plow guys over in the lane, they might have had a NC. Illinois players made it happen. (This despite Bruce Webber actually coaching that team)
Bruce was a nice guy who could not get players from the state to stay home. Illinois banned Chief Illiniwek which further doomed the program and they've become irrelevant in college hoops.
And yet, the state has produced so many great college players through the last decade. I just looked at the rosters of McD's all americans (http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/mcdonalds.html) ↗ and players from the state are plentiful on the list. The last to play for Illinois that was a MCD's AA was Jerome Richmond, an extremely talented head case who flamed out quickly. That was in 2011.
Meanwhile looking through that list and you see Illinois natives going to KU, like Alexander, Collins and Wright, not to mention all of the other productive players we've had like Jamari, Mario Little, among others. Kentucky, Duke and others have taken top talent as well from the state.
Just today, Illinois' top 2015 recruit Jalen Brunson chose Villanova. I'm not surprised, but am saddened a bit by the demise of a once proud program that can't recruit the top talent that comes from there.
It must be getting close to BBall. I purchased my Street and Smiths (now called Sporting News) College and Prep basketball yearbook the other day, and Jaybate is posting lengthy non-basketball related essays with references from every walk of life.
Not by coincidence, I saw a listing yesterday of the 25 most sleazy figures in sports. Coach Cal's name was firmly planted in that list.
Obviously this is allowed by NCAA rules, but it still reeks of crossing the line between amateurism and professionalism.
Greene and Oubre have killer instincts? We had no one on that team last year with a killer instinct. And I don't think we know enough about Oubre yet to determine if his A game translates to OAD superstar status like some say it is. I hope you're right of course. I do hope especially that Brannan's game elevates and that he is given the chance to play some quality minutes.
Those are great stats on Greene @Statmachine. We need good data like that to evaluate our team's chances this year. Keep it up!
Frankly, I've been thinking about Mason lately (you see what I did there?). We are talking about our big time players, yet a mole with hopefully six months of seasoning since last March could become a PTPlayer for us this year. We know he's fearless, a good trait if harnessed correctly, and we know he has some leadership skills. In my mind I've been thinking we might get some nice stat lines out of Frank which will help this team when the freshmen struggle.
So I no longer will feel bad that I didn't invite you over to watch the game when I have the channel and you don't?
@brooksmd Hey, didn't notice you'd written this as you didn't tag me. I think the key was when our nosetackle got hurt at the end of the 3rd. LSU hadn't run the ball at all, then ran wild in the fourth which helped open up the passing game. I was there and had a good time except for the fourth quarter! I just picked up my Sporting News preseason basketball issue and they have the Badgers at 3 and KU at 6. Looks like I'll be watching a lot of hoops coming up in a couple of months!
Bo's gonna get him.
Why o Why didn't Paul win a KU championship? It still pains me!
I, like a lot of you, really have great admiration for Paul Pierce and his contributions to KU's basketball history. Over on the other KU site we all left (they still do have some good stuff there!) they have this:
http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/all_eyes_ku/2014/aug/28/paul-pierces-website-gives-his-fans-a-lo/ ↗
I haven't checked his website link yet which apparently has a lot about his KU days on it, but the 7 minute highlight video is spine tingling and tine spingling.
As someone living in SEC country, I wish this article was about SEC teams wanting to schedule the basketball team so I might see them play on occasion.
Now that I think about it, I'd rather win conference and the NC 10 years in a row.
I would
Only people in Cleveland old enough to be AARP members remember a championship. I do kind of hope Lebron and Love can deliver one to the city, although I'd rather they had done it with Wiggins.
@JayHawkFanToo I'd take 4 NC's in the last 15 years. That's what it's all about.
@drgnslayr If someone gets me a KU conference champion T-Shirt I'll wear it too!
@KansasComet I do like what you wrote about 2 titles in 30 years being just less than the most. 8 FF's is right up there as well obviously, so thanks for reminding us that Final Fours are a pinnacle of sorts and we've been more than blessed with those at KU. I cherish every final four memory, much more than the conference title memories.
@HighEliteMajor I just heard today that Nick Saban has won 2 SEC championships in his seven years in Tuscaloosa. Of course, he's won 3 NC's while there, plus the NC at LSU. He isn't known as the best coach in the country for those measly two SEC championships. In fact, if you could compare the two, I'd suppose most people, even a lot of Jayhawk fans would be willing to admit that Nick is a more successful coach at this point of their careers than Bill.
We didn't get Louisville true, but we improved by losing Missouri!
Am I the only one that doesn't put much stock in videos of recruits playing against HS competition? They rarely reveal the quality of the competition, the skills of the coach trying to stop them, and even the skills of his own coach who may coach him to let him pad his stats. Is it some all star type game when defenses often rest? Sorry, I just have to trust the experts instead of these videos!
But I do like your thinking as always HEM, bring in some guys with some sticking power. Of course it's been discussed with some seriousness lately about changing the rules again and having these guys stick around a while longer in college and of course that changes the discussion too.
@drgnslayr Depending on the gender of the runner, it will either remain irrelevant, or it will become the most popular spectator/TV viewing sport in the history of the world.
JB, but Mizzou would still not have even a final four
I'm still trying to figure out if Mangino caught lightning in a bottle with some nifty recruits and that made him look good. I think I remember that his last season had begun to turn pretty sour, a long losing streak in the league games.
Had we lost to Memphis, I'm sure there'd be naysayers nationally. We'd be hearing KU is really a good solid program but not good enough to win it all. Does it begin to effect recruiting? I think it might.
LOL Nuleaf, you always have a fresh perspective!
Perkins was a fool for running him out of town it seems. When Mark was coach I didn't have to feel guilty about making bad jokes about our football team and I actually watched quite a few games with excitement. I wish he was still here, but I also didn't anticipate the drastic fall off we've had either.
I saw on ESPN a little series they're doing to fill the summer void called what if.... With the risk of plagiarizing ESPN and being sued by the Eastern Sports Programming Network I'll introduce a couple of KU related What Ifs.
What if Bill Self wasn't interested in the KU job...?
What if Mark Mangino hadn't lost his cool....?
What if Mario's shot hadn't gone in...? (try to avoid the obvious here that we would have lost that game!)
Test
Lebron doesn't win championships without former Jayhawks on the team, I think we've proved that, so Cleveland made a big mistake.
I was pulling for Cleveland to win with Wiggins alongside Lebron, but not anymore! I wish Wiggins well.
@nuleafjhawk
I avoid Bourbon St, but I do enjoy the quarter besides it.
@brooksmd Doing well! Hot enough for you?
@approxinfinity The red stick had something to do with the Indians and a tree on the Mississippi River where Southern Univ. now stands.
@Lulufulu85 if your company is hiring, I might like living in Vermont! Get on up to Lake Willoughby someday, one of America's prettiest lakes.
Welcome back. It would be interesting to know where all of us live on this site. SF, Burlington, the height of beauty in our country! I live in the depths of ugly in Baton Rouge!
@MoonwalkMafia Here's how I became a Jayhawks hoop fanatic and a non Jayhawk football supporter. I wasn't born in Kansas, never lived there either, except for my three years as a student there. I didn't know anything about KU sports upon coming to Lawrence. While at KU I did go to the football games, but I had to buy the tickets in order to get basketball tickets, so I went. The games were fun but not in a fanatic type of way.
I graduated, still followed KU hoops because 1. They were very good and 2. They were on TV.
Football wasn't on TV up north where I went after graduating. Pre internet days made being a football fan of KU's just a check the score in the paper type of thing.
By the way, I've been a Sox fan since the early 80's. Suffering a bit right now, but the thrill of 05 still is strong.
If I could have answered at work, I would have said a 4 or 5, but a friend just called and offered me a ticket for LSU-Wisconsin in Houston in 3 weeks. Now I'm a 1!! Sorry, I've just never gotten into KU football, I know I should. I did hop on the bandwagon in the Mangino heyday, (were we really undefeated and ranked 2 or 3 in the country?!!)
We got someone getting married to a misery fan? Either get counseling before that day, or I suggest removal from this site. I don't know if you read the Bible but Israel was prohibited from intermarrying with the Canaanites and when they went ahead and did it got them sent to Babylon. We don't want you getting sent to Babylon, so be careful!
I'd care more about what happens to Wiggins if he had given us more than a year. That doesn't mean I don't care, once a JH always a JH, but I barely got to know him. No great memories of shining on the national stage leading us to loftier heights than a 2nd round loss.
It's funny though because I do care alot about what happens to Joel. I guess it's because he really entertained us during the short time he was on campus.
I'm really looking forward to Selden busting out or breaking out (is there a difference?!) We all have our ideas as to why he disappointed us last season, but we also saw the vast potential the young man has.
As for Jamari, I've never seen him as a star and leader, but more of a valuable first off the bench type of guy.
No matter what he does, he had his bust out moment years ago when he overcame spending nights in January in Chicago in a car as a homeless teen. It really is quite remarkable obviously.
As for Kasongo, I'd be a little skeptical. Someone with that much talent but with the question marks on eligibility makes me unsure whether he'd play this year. If he's as good as this indicates, by all means, get him here, but probably don't expect him to play until 15-16.
Aw come on JHFT, baseball is not boring to watch! A pitchers dual is the best baseball there is hands down! And for the record, I golf and I love watching golf so now you've gone and insulted me twice!! Good thing we got this Jayhawk bond.
My wife could have written the exact same thing Nuleaf! Wait a minute, as we really don't know the identity of each other on this site, could you be me wife? Hmmmm....
I do a little blogging and this one, a diversion from my usual topics was me trying to get a lot off my chest
@drgnslayr
"The championships would compliment each other" Let's just say we win it this year over my Badgers. How would 08 compliment 15 or vice versa? "Well 08, that certainly was a nice comeback you made." "Thanks couldn't have done it without Mario's super shot, I must say though Selden's half court alley to Perry at the buzzer sure was memorable." "We've got the two best NCAA endings in history."
Now if we had championships 'complement' each other, well, sorry, the teacher in me just came out!
Since they removed the downvote arrow, it's safe to say this :) Put KU in any other major conference and we're not talking about 10 straight conference championships. This league just has not had the consistent elite challenger to KU that we need to toughen us up for March when the games really matter. (now I'm going to run and hide)
And we had Pop sitting on the bench next to Larry Brown in the 80's!
@VailHawk I don't really remember that aspect, one of the few I don't remember!
I like conference championships like I like a great piece of blueberry pie, warmed up, a spoon of ice cream on it. Tastes great the first bite or two, by the end, while still delicious, the thrill is gone. I don't remember individual slices of such dessert. I couldn't tell you one thing about any of our conference championships. I don't remember how many games we won by, who we beat to clinch or anything like that. But, ask me about 2008, or 1988, or the 2005 Sox world series, Many details are fresh.
I want blueberry pie. I want national championships more.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/kansas-becomes-team-usa-world-203425914--ncaab.html ↗ ↗
I am a little out of the loop during my summer away from home so I missed this story. I searched through the archives here and didn't see it discussed. What do my KU brethren and sisters think about this? I'm not positive I like it as it becomes risky for injuries and such.
It will sure give us something to talk about next summer. In many ways it's quite the honor for KU to be chosen in this experiment instead of the traditional all star team. Even the possibility of BMac playing is intriguing. So what think ye of KU taking on the world in 2015?
If it means losing some of our members and their longgggg posts, then by all means do it!!! All Malice All Harm or something like that.
Since you are asking, I'm fine, but I'm not very technically inclined so I don't even understand why you're thinking you need to change it, which is fine with me.
That's about the best thing that can happen for Wiggins development.
Roy before the pressures of the Lawrence hoops microscope turned his hair gray, or maybe it happened after he went to UNC?
@bskeet
You've exceeded the salary cap and therefore are subject to a salary cap fine payable to me, the commish.
@nuleafjhawk I think it was the season before James Naismith arrived on campus actually.