🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@approxinfinity From the recently departed Johnny Orr who was very quotable:
“I guess we’re the state champs. Make sure you put that in the paper.”
Dec. 11, 1993, after an 86-79 victory over visiting Iowa.

And this gem:
When Iowa State hired Jim Criner from Boise State to be our head coach they had a nice press conference to announce this. Johnny Orr attended this press conference and it went something like the following:

Reporter: Jim what are your feelings about being at Iowa State?

Jim: I'm real excited to be here. These players are big and fast and I can't wait to get on the field this spring and see what we can do!

Johnny: You think these guys are fast, you should see the ****ers from Nebraska!

@wrwlumpy I wouldn't lump those three coaches together. Tubbs was a classless moron who after we beat them was quoted in the paper saying he knew his team was better. I was pretty new to KU back then so I hadn't developed the anti-Missouri venom that I soon would, and it was Billy Tubbs and OU that I hated. I still do in fact.

What if Joel stays and we already have Cliff coming in. Would Turner want to come into that competition for playing time?

Anyone know where this documentary can be viewed? 88 was my senior year and obviously it holds many great memories for me.

Joel is fast becoming one of the most quotable Jayhawks of all time. His "don't you think I should learn to drive first" is another memorable one. @Approxinfinity, I nominate it for a top of the page quote. I do like that the article hints that Joel may be open to another year at KU. I'm selfish, I want these guys staying here instead of losing a bunch of games in the NBA like Ben is doing now.

As for Johnny Orr, he was a very good coach. I believe he coached Michigan to the title game in '76 against Indiana. He had some tough teams at ISU during my KU years. Jeff Grayer, Jeff Hornacek, and Ron Virgil were talented players who if memory serves correctly didn't lose to KU at ISU.

I liked the most clicked on stories. Was surprised the story about losing to Michigan was not one of the top twenty. Was also surprised that the story about Wiggins dunk was one of the top stories.

Too lazy to look up names! I guess I should edit it, but since it's all made up, what the heck! It does expose me as a KU hoops fan only though I guess, doesn't it!

As for coach K, I was trying to link him with Khruschev!

January: Arnold Scwharzeneggar hires Julia Hudy saying he's gotten a little flabby.

February: Fred Hoiberg told his dad he really shouldn't have threatened Bill Self after KU's controversial win in Iowa City.

March 29: After an unusual and special request by Elijah Johnson all records and reports of the games on this particular night have been expunged from the record books. When asked recently about it, EJ says he knew nothing about that night, it never happened.

April: When asked about it Roy Williams says he actually DID give a sh#$% about the North Carolina job on that fateful night in 2003.

May: Recruiting wars are heating up now that the season is over and John Calipari, in an unusual move, is recruiting any NBA player who never went to college. Lebron James reportedly mulled Calipari's offer as the money was better but Lexington doesn't have a South Beach, just Ashley Judd.

June: KU Women win the national championship in basketball, disguised as track and field.

July: Kobe Bryant rejects Calipari's offer, saying "the money's great, but as the all time leader in missed shots, I'm afraid of those Kentucky fans and what they'll do when I miss more shots."

August: On the eve of football, Charlie Weiss visits Bill Self and begs him to come and coach the football team. Self declines the offer, so Weiss asks "Can I at least have your recruiting class?"

September: After running across the Sahara Desert while carrying Charlie Weiss on their backs and doing sprints up Kilimanjaro with Mark Mangino on their backs, the young Jayhawks decided Tyler Self wasn't exaggerating about his dad's boot camp.

October: With the most anticipated season in KU basketball history about to start the team runs into some trouble when someone discovers the new uniforms were misspelled Cansas.

November: Since the Bahama's are not a part of the United States, the Jayhawks shocking loss to Bahama's St. is voided by the NCAA and will not count against their RPI. It did drop their all time record in ballrooms to an unsightly 1-2 however.

December: Mike Kruschevsky reveals he's an elf.

My team, the Badgers, then some big 10 teams in the bigger games, then the endings when they're close. Most hold no interest for me however. In fact most before New Years I'm surprised to see they even qualified for a bowl game.

I think it'd be cool if their nickname was the MudHens and their coach was named Klinger.

I think it'd be cooler if they wore Klinger style dresses, maybe like Immaculata used to wear when they played.

I think it'd be real cool if we show them a narrow victory in AFH is by about 45 or 50 points.

3 revealing articles.
The Wiggins brothers share their love of basketball, but the article points out they like other things too.

Tharpe has more assists than our other guards.

We're finalists for several players who we've known we're in the running for a long time.

How about a couple of other 'revealing' articles? I'll make a few suggestions:

Missouri moving to HS gym so games appear fuller.

Kentucky basketball players get lost on campus, only know where Rupp Arena is.

Billy Tubbs wishes it were Billy and the Miracles.

John Calipari reveals maybe he should have called the timeout in 08.

Many OAD's are indeed done.

Charlie Weiss envies Bill Self, asks coach if he needs another assistant.

KState thinking of changing mascot to WildJayhawks.

Top recruits like the 'benefits' Kentucky offers.

ESPN says "There's no need to cover teams west of Interstate 95."

Billy Packer's wife reveals he still mopes around the house after Mario's Miracle.

@Jaybate nominated for Pulitzer in special category. In a separate piece, it's revealed his daddy is John Wooden.

@HEM reveals he's really Jaybates adopted son.

@Dragonslayr asked to coach Missouri. Says he's too busy writing on KUBuckets.

@Approxinfinity claims it was he, not Al Gore who invented the internet.

I usually don't have much to offer so I try to make people laugh and one line I've used over the years on the live updates with @JesseNewell is when an opponent misses two FT's I'll quip, "nice free throw defense." Someone usually gives me an LOL. Turns out I was right!

@drgnslayr Thanks Dragon and everyone else for the love!
@DinarHawk, the problem with the Syracuse game for me was we were a much better team than Syracuse. Best of seven we win in 5 games probably.
@KirkHinrich, That year didn't sting as much to me even though you bring up excellent points. The 'glad to be there' syndrome applied for me that year. We had 'struggled' for a few years with a bunch of early exits and that year just felt like the monkey was off our backs.
I guess how good that team was the annihilation of Oregon to get to the Final Four. What a beatdown that was, seemed like every point was an alley oop, or Keith slashing dunk or Jeff three ball. Amazing team performance!

@VailHawk I do the same thing, the tiebreak score 83-79! Maybe I got the idea from you somehow!

Since it's boxing day, it's acceptable to return the gifts we don't like. As a Jayhawks fanatic, here's a few returns, past and present I'd like to return. No cash required, just erase it from the memory bank.

Michigan. Good Friday. 2013. Do I have to explain why I'm returning this?

Syracuse NC game, my all time most painful Jayhawk loss.

The announcement a couple of days later.

All football memories except the Orange Bowl year.

Arizona in '97. In my opinion the best Jayhawk team of my lifetime.

Duke '86. Actually, return the refs who called 26 fouls on us and 14 on them and fouled out Danny, Cedric, Greg, and nearly Ron.

Since we're on Duke, the 91 championship game as well.

All of the high seeded early exits, UTEP, UCLA, the killer B's, the directional Iowa school, and even a bunch of #1 seeds losing decent teams we still should have beat like Virginia.

There's a few players I'd like to mention, but that might ruin the holiday mood, and who knows, one of you might be JR Giddens.

Regular season embarrassments against Oral Roberts, Richmond, TCU, and even this years Florida game.

The demise of KUSports.com.

The relative 'drought' of the late 1990's and early 2000's when only the most diehard Jayhawk fan wrote down KU in the final four on their brackets. (I'm one of them although I knew better)

The first 38 minutes of the Memphis game.

The first 39 minutes and 59 seconds of the Davidson game that same season.

Any loss to Kentucky and Missouri.

Billy Tubbs and Norm Stewart.

KState in '88. The first time I had seen us lose in person in my three years on campus. Subsequently OU and Duke. Although I guess we returned those in March and April that year.

Missouri leaving. THEY ruined a great rivalry. It is kind of funny to think though that all of these bad memories of ours and they're thinking it'd sure be nice to play in the final four!

I've lost the receipts for these memories, so I may just have to keep them.

I like the list too JB, but didn't Huggy get to a final four with Cincy? Seems to me he did. It does gall me to see his name on a list for final four as I've never appreciated his thugball approach to basketball.

@jaybate 1.0 "the most knowledgeable fan on the bayou" That's like saying I'm the best snowman in the Sahara desert, the most popular congressman, the most unbiased ESPN commentator, the most honest lawyer, the Kentucky fan with the best teeth, the Missouri fan with the newest car, .... you get the idea!

Twas the night before christmas and all through kubuckets many new topics,
I wondered what it might be. And to my wondering eye it appeared, Jaybate is here.

The unforeseen consequences of our most valuable Jayhawk @approxinfinity's grand experiment is the appearance of one, I won't risk blasphemy, one Jaybate to add to our growing list of expert opinionators.

We all knew he couldn't stay away. We all knew of the siren song of Jayhawk talk without malice would slowly lure us to our new addiction.

Or I could say welcome JB!

If Selden is reading this, and we all know Coach Self requires his players to read KUBuckets, I recommend staying. I always do. You can't replace the college experience. You can't replace playing 30 minutes a night before 16300 adoring fans who will cheer most every move. You'll be coached by a man who is ready to move to the next level if he so desires. If you don't stay, you risk becoming the next Josh Selby. Would you rather be the star at KU who has an iffy pro career or the OAD at KU who isn't a star and then is mediocre in the NBA?

Of course he could become a star in the NBA but the reason this post is even written is because deep down we don't see Wayne as being remotely ready for the NBA. A year ago we didn't write is BMac ready? We aren't writing that about Joel or Andrew, because we know they are. So trust us Wayne, stick around, you won't regret it.

@JayHawkFanToo So that's the real story? I was wondering really!

Travelled 15 hours on Saturday, big family event yesterday, I know we won, but it sounds like a I missed a lot with Saturdays game? Just guessing what I may have missed.

Joel became the first to shatter a backboard by blocking a shot through the glass?

Coach told his son to take off his uniform at a timeout and put it on himself and inserted himself during mop up time?

An extra fan snuck in and the official attendance was 16301?

It was such a rout the fans began the chant at the first TV timeout?

John Thompson gave his son a timeout for getting blown out?

Frank Mason actually met a shot he didn't like?

Tarik paid a visit to Danny in Tulsa and got a refresher course on how to play the game?

The grinch was seen lurking near Georgetowns bench?

Perry got revenge for a cheap shot by sneaking out and letting the air out of the tires on the hoyas charter plane?

Wiggins still thought this was the Florida game when he threw the ball at a Georgetown player?

Jay Bilas forgot he had an L in his name?

Did I miss anything else?

@HighEliteMajor No, you?

@JayHawkFanToo I keep up with the times, I just don't keep up with the arena's . They're all so bland and non-descript and all have corporate names I really don't care to figure out where they're playing. I did watch the NM game.

I caught a glimpse of him the other night and goodness, the arms on that young man. I don't remember him being so built up when he was at KU.

@JayHawkFanToo I wrote Kemper reluctantly as I haven't been back to the Lawrence area since I graduated and I wasn't even sure if the building still existed!

@JayHawkFanToo I agree somewhat, but I guess I'm selfish in that I want to watch KU in good games and I think KU-Missouri would be a good game. And if you don't want them getting the home gate then play it in Kemper every year, just like Missouri and Illinois play in St. Louis every year.

@nuleafjhawk, how about keeping it in the sport and having them play one on one? Full court. In fact since most coaches are former players lets have a national one on one tournament between the coaches. You might have to have age brackets. And you might get to see another NC for Danny.

@KirkIsMyHinrich I assume your why is towards my post. I like exciting games, and year in and year out there was rarely a more exciting game than the Missouri games. I miss that. Yeah, I'm ticked they left, but so what. I'd rather see us play them than Georgetown. It'd be a huge annual game.

As for Wichita St. I'd rather see us play them than Iona or San Diego St. Why? Because it's exciting. People will talk about it. I don't care too much for the reasons you gave. We'd lose money? We've got plenty I'd guess. If they're not ranked like you say they may be many years, so what? We play a lot of non-conference teams that aren't ranked. Why play them instead of Wichita?

I think we look bad nationally for not wanting to play Missouri and WSU. Just sayin!

Haven't been there since graduation in '88, but my ears are still ringing, Rock Chalk Jayhawk chants coursing through my bones, Danny Manning brilliance running like before their time GIF's in my mind, sit down Norm taunts coming to mind every time I hear the name Norm, free pizza rumbles in my stomach as we approached 100 points, fighting the urge to crumple up my newspaper and throw it in the air from my lazy boy before each game, humming I'm a Jayhawk incessantly like the carols of Christmas we hear incessantly, whooshing when I make a FT like I'm in the last seconds of finishing off misery. Ahhh Kansas!

Bo Ryan has always made it a point to play the other Div. 1 teams in Wisconsin. Bill Self should do the same and schedule WSU each year.

Sadly with Kansas' smaller population, it may not be a high ratings game for the networks, and that may be why we'd shy away from it. Ever notice KU-KState doesn't get national coverage on both of their games each year?

I'm in the minority I know, but I wish we'd swallow our pride and renew a series with Missouri each year. That's one game I really miss.

I'm an optimist, I think this game was awesome.

But wait, I'm a pessimist, it was New Mexico at our home away from home. (anyone know how we got a Jayhawk on the floor in KC, MO?)

I'm an optimist really and Joel is way better than I thought because coming into this year I thought he was going to be a project. The first game against FHState he looked like a project, the 2nd game and 3rd games he looked like he was nearing completion and now he's a finished product.

I'm an pessimist, Joel is gone after our last game in March.

I'm an optimist, that game will be in April.

I'm a pessimist, Tarik sucks.

I'm an optimist, we don't need him.

I'm a pessimist, OAD's will ruin this team.

I'm an optimist, one of them is becoming a TAD or a THAD, I'm talking Selden of course, because I don't see the hype so far on him, which is good because we need some of these kids to stay.

I'm a pessimist, what happens when we run into another tough zone defense?

I'm an optimist, we have the best coach in the country and the scrimmages with Villanova, Colorado and Florida will teach this team way more than beating Central Northwestern South Carolina State.

@approxinfinity, even in a 'bad' season by our standards there's lots to look forward to.

I like Tharpe starting over Mason. I like watching Joel's spectacular blocked shots. I like that my HS soccer team won today, must be the coaching. I like that Self may be learning that filling a team with a bunch of OAD's may not be the KU way. (I realize with a bunch of spots open this year he may have had not choice). I like that my wife got me a DVR for Christmas so I can go to a Christmas party tonight and watch the KU game as many times as I want and that I get to skip the commercials and watch the game in an hour. I like Wiggins' game, he's gonna be alright. I like that my secondary hoops love Wisconsin is ranked 4th. I like that we have the most knowledgeable fans in the country. I like that Jaybate is probably reading this. I like Approx for setting this up.

There was an interesting read recently in Sports Illustrated, an excerpt from a book about the 85 Bears. The section they focused on was about the relationship between McMahon and Ditka, and McMahon and his teammates.

McMahon and Ditka clashed. It was crazy.

McMahon and his teammates was a different picture. He head butted them, symbolic of his belief in what they were doing. I think it was Singletary who said McMahon came on the field and instantly made everyone out there on his side of the line better. That's a leader. Right now, JayDoc is right, we have no one seemingly out there to make everyone better.

I hope he emerges before this promising season is a waste.

Wiggins looked Lebronesque in the 2nd half. A positive.

Mason looked like he didn't appreciate the starting job.

Tharpe, while not sparkling, did have 5 assists and 3 TO's, superb numbers for KU last night. The competition is heating up for that PG position.

You've all said it about Tarik and you're all right. He should have enjoyed his swansong in Memphis

We actually led 10-3.

Jeff made blocking shots fun to watch, Joel's are downright entertaining.

You all were clamoring for Greene earlier in the season (I don't take the time to get to know these guys preseason) and you were correct.

Selden seems to make a nice play or two at the beginning of the game and then disappears.

Perry will come on strong just like he did last year.

We're going to see a lot of zone this year.

The no call on Wiggins drive to the hoop when we're down by 4 (I think) was the worst call of the season bar none. They get that right, it's down to the wire.

It'll be nice to see the team in AFH for a change.

Keegen wrote a nice article about the last FL-Kan meeting in 2006. It was an exciting game to be sure defeating the defending NC's.
I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that Florida won back to backs in the 2000's. Billy D is a really good coach who played at the final four with little known Providence.
Keegen points out all the future pros who played in that game. In general Florida's guys have done better than KU's, but we all know that by now. So it raises a question. How much does a college coach care about how his guys do in the pro's?

Why I believe this I do not really know, but I believe that we'll win with relative ease. KU is a more talented team than Florida, and I think there's some embarassment over the two losses and dud against UTep.

@HEM, do you comment on Yahoo? Someone does who uses the same profile pic you do.

@drgnslayr, I think it was Wilt, of course he wasn't able to play as a freshman!

I was going to go all the way to 12 as in the 12 days of Jayhawk Christmas, but the creative juices just aren't flowing. Maybe ya'll can help!

1 good win this year so far. (Duke)
2 games lost on buzzer beater threes.
3 freshmen who need to stick around before their pro careers, Joel, Selden and Wiggins.
4 tough games til conference play begins, Florida, GTown, NM, and SDState.
5 fouls gonna be a lot of that for certain players

Probably not the biggest story of the day, but I came across this today.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-curie-alexander-suspension-postponed-20131206,0,5066891.story ↗ ↗

JVHawk, I'm not sure what you mean about last year.

@Dragonslayr, If the year ends with a disappointing loss, and probably anything short of a championship will be a disappointing loss, will we hold him in the same esteem as Paul Pierce who we saw grow into a great, and who was part of that great (alas disappointing) team? I'm not sure.

Wish I had time to read all of these comments. The original post was excellent.
Perception is everything. Bill has been 'blamed' for not developing Selby and even Xavier into top shelf NBA ready talent. But maybe the evaluators were wrong on these two. They haven't shown much in the NBA (I know Xavier in Kobe's absence is getting some PT) so even though they were top 10 talent, whoever made them top 10 was wrong. And maybe they were wrong about Wiggins. He's obviously still a very good basketball player. But will he be everything the nation thought he'd be this year? The jury's out, but it's not coach's fault in my opinion.

Hot off the presses, KU in the Old Spice tournament next year with Michigan State. They flashed the teams up there, didn't catch the others.

By the way, why would anyone want to dredge up memories of that miserable game? Wasn't that the blizzard game and we were stranded there for a while?

I was seriously going to ask a what if question, as in, what if KU wins a couple rings in the next few years and CS wants to try an NBA gig? Would Jay Wright be a possible replacement?

You all presciently answered my question without even knowing it! I don't want him now either. Until 5 minutes ago I'd always thought he did a pretty good job at 'Nova. Thanks for setting me straight!

@Lulufulu
I know Self compared him to Mario, but I was thinking Sherron as well.

We were skeptical at first that it was JB, but a few of his posts confirmed it quickly!

A sick Wiggins leads the team in scoring. That's just sick.

I used to drive to KU from Chicago through Iowa instead of Missouri. Both routes were equal. I did have to compromise my values and come down I-35 for an hour or so through misery, but I closed my eyes the whole time.