🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Go ahead Jayhawkrock! Let's have it.

Jayhawk things I'm thankful for:

Danny Manning. His and my senior year. Front row seats from just behind the north goal for 3 years of his amazing talent on display.

Allen Field House. Every time one of those lists comes out of best arena, best fans, etc. it's right there. Haven't been back since graduation, but if I can give thanks to a building I will, thanks AFH.

Probation. The minor scandal after the championship led to Brown leaving and Roy coming. Every team in the country has fallen out of the tourney since that year except KU.

2006 I moved my family to Louisiana (long story there, don't ask!) which led to my proximity to the Superdome and the opportunity to see the Jayhawks for the first time since 1988. Even though they lost the game it was a bucket list type of thrill.

Sherron, Darrell, Brandon, Sasha, Darnell because Mario's miracle doesn't happen without the key roles they played in that game.

Memorial Stadium. A beautiful place to watch mediocre football during my three years on campus. I did get to see OSU and their highly touted running back Thurman Thomas and thinking their backup, whoever that #20 is, might be better than the highly touted Thomas.

KUSports We've sure been rough on the website, but without it, my 2012 memory may not have happened. Thanks @BrooksMD!

Wilt It's nice to think that the greatest in the game played here.

Late Night with Larry Brown 1985 The first realization that I had come to a special place, because growing up in Chicago I really didn't know KU had a great hoops tradition.

Technology. It allows me to watch every KU game, even the exhibition games from the farflung places I've lived.

Approx for keeping some of us together.

@Brooks, I saw in the paper that LSU is dropping the price of upper level seats at the PMac to 3 bucks for the rest of the season, except for the kentacky game of course. I've been there for two or three games a season, and it's, uh, boring.

Anyone notice we are 0-3 against UTEP? Several infamous games, the one in 66 when they said JoJo White stepped out on his game winning shot. I was only 2 at the time so I had to watch the movie Glory Road to learn about that one.

I was very much alive and stunned when an 8th seeded UTEP knocked us out in the 2nd round. Don't remember much about that game. I assume it was Adonis Jordan's team with Richard Scott, maybe Terry Brown from downtown, and Steve Woodbury? I know I could go and look it up. Maybe someone remembers it better than I?

Anyone notice we are only 3-7 against Iowa, which is the only ranked team other than us in the Bahamas? I would guess there aren't many teams with winning records against us who've played us a number of times.

I did notice that Wake Forest demolished us 84-53 in the very early 2000's, a whooping that surely taught Kirk and Drew and Nick a few lessons that would pay off in their back to back final fours.

As far as the TV thing. AXS, directtv channel 340, doesn't work on mine. Maybe I'll call them. If it involves more money I doubt I will.

The LJW story has a picture of the court where we're playing. I'm sorry, but playing a game in a room that next weekend will be a convention of sock sellers, and then host a wedding reception the next is not my idea of a basketball arena. It's torture on the kids too. You're going to the Bahamas, but as Self says, it's a business trip, forget enjoying this beautiful place. Please report to the Atlantis room for a film session on Villanova guys. I'd much rather that they schedule some of these non conference games at AFH and at the gyms of these teams. What I'm saying is, I'm just a bit jealous of all who get to go there to see us play!

@rocketdog I read it this summer in an SI piece about Popovich. If memory serves correct he was an unpaid assistant and left KU for the head job at Cal Poly pomona pitzer or something like that. When I was a senior we played that school, for the life of me couldn't figure out why we were playing that DIII team, but the article solved that mystery for me. Pretty cool to think that two high stature coaches were here at the same time!

@DanR As for the channel, thanks Dan. I checked my directTV 340 doesn't even register as a channel. I'll figure it out! Oh for the simple days of ABC, NBC, and CBS!

Thoughts from the weekend Jayhawks related:
The article states Tulsa is 0-4 this year. Danny has played a tough schedule thus far.
Duke beats Vermont by 1 at home. That is a shocker. Takes some luster off of our defeat of them?
Roy beats Louisville. The old boy's still got it!
Looking ahead to turkey and basketball. I notice the game is on AXS TV. What is that? Anyone?
Keegen points out KU football has trouble when they go on the road. This is so stating the obvious it's embarrassing.

A lot of you know I also follow Wisconsin pretty closely and their scoring is way up. They had their first 100 point game since the mid 90's. They are scoring in big bunches. But, like KU, they're also giving up way more. It's more entertaining to watch to be sure.

@KirkIsMyHinrich I agree on last years tournament. Not only did Louisville do it, but so did Syracuse all the way to the Final Four. I'm still shaking my head over Syracuse mauling Marquette in the elite 8, and getting whistled for only 11 fouls the entire game. I don't want more fouls called in games any more than the next guy, but I also want to see the game return to it's truer form.

I was contemplating the same thoughts Nuleaf as I watched the Badgers playing up in frigid Minneapolis. What if was proven to be a detriment to a team playing in cold weather? Would teams stop doing it?

Attendance, 16,300. How long has this been posted as the attendance at AFH? I dare say every game since I attended in the 80's?

I missed the game, but got to see my daughter break a scoreless tie with a perfect pass for the game winning goal so It was a good night anyways.
What did I miss? Looks like a rout!
@JayHawkFanToo, Bruce Weber was a great coach at SIU. I think he knows how to coach great talent (who doesn't?) but he can't seem to succeed at the highest levels. This is just a repeat of Illinois like a lot of us predicted.
When Weber coached at Illinois, Jon Scheyer was one of the best players in the country. Scheyer played for Dave Weber in HS, Bruce's brother in the north suburbs. Even that connection couldn't get him to the U of I and he ended up having a solid career at Duke.

"We Stinks" Carlos Zambrano

Jesse, When I went to Kansas, the basketball team was terrific and the football team wasn't. Why is this still true 25 years later, and has been for all but a few Mason years and Mangino years? Serious question really even though it appears not to be.

@Jesse Newell I might check it out. I assume you have to register and all that. Is it free, or do you have to subscribe?

I wish Joel would stop playing this way. He's going to leave after a season if he keeps this up. And it was cool seeing his dad there, watching him play for the first time must have been quite a thrill for Mr. Embiid.

I saw Jesse's article there. I assume he went over to Topeka? I tried out the KUSports forum last night, wasn't the same without him there.

"Babe, do you think you should make more money than the president of the United States?" Babe Ruth, "Well I did have a better year than he did".

I've read this quote of Babe Ruth's somewhere, not sure where, but it is memorable.

I've been trying to compare today to the 70's and 80's when I first started following college hoops. Wilt was the first I remember leaving college early that I know of, but after that, I think of Magic leaving after two years, and then the norm became leaving a year early. So who would have OAD's? Danny, Magic, Ralph Sampson, Isaih, Patrick Ewing were players I remember really being hyped.
The problem with the OAD phenomenon is it gives those very players a false sense of how good they really are. With the talent level watered down by so many early exits, freshmen and sophomores are given more chances to shine. I'd love to see Wiggins to have to take a back seat to some higher caliber players just like Danny had to. Danny was treated like a freshman because he was a freshman with a lot of talented upperclassmen. Danny became better for it. But there's no one, besides coach of course to put Wiggins in his place as a freshman.
I'd really like to see the NBA make a rule that if you want to play pro ball, then make yourself available out of HS. If you don't choose that route, or if you don't get drafted, then you're going to college for 3 years minimum. Then we'll start to see the high caliber of play that we've become accustomed to.

If you could get Jaybate to join is about the only thing that could be better. It could be hot pink with pictures of justin beaber and I wouldn't care, although if that tempts you, please don't :)

@JayHawkFanToo Remind me of Turner, what's his ranking and expected announcing date? I lose track, especially with working 10-12 hour days like I am right now.

@brooksmd Mixing college hoops and Louis Armstrong is always a good thing!

I meant to agree on your comments about the 2002 team, and I've always regretted them or the 03 team not winning. If Drew had stayed one more year....

HEM, the top teams lists to not win is interesting. If you google it, it's been done a bunch of times.

On Miller, I have not spent time analyzing it to be sure, and I'm more of a fan than an analyst like you, I always thought Pitt was a very good team when he was there, and Xavier was good when he coached them as well. Not the easiest places to win a lot of college games really. There is the old bugaboo of whoever is coaching Pitt to fail in the tourney, so I'm not sure. But I just thought he got a lot out of his talent.

@Blown I agree on Sean Miller. Maybe it's a bit personal, he's from the town where my sister has lived a long time, Beaver Falls, PA, but I think given a blue blood program he could work some magic here, although I personally like the thought of a Self groomed asst like Danny taking the helm.

How many top 50's have we had in the time period since your 'study' was done? Wiggins, Frankamp, Ellis, ALexander, Oubre, ...? It will be interesting to look back in a few years at the extremely successful years he's had recruiting wise and see what it added up to.

As for a disproportionate number of championships, I've always had the same thought. Just yesterday, following a link someone shared on a bleacher report story on Ellis, I came across a top teams not to win the NCAA tournament. Two KU teams made the list, 1997 and 1957. I think 2003 should have been on there too, but there's a lot of 'deserving' teams for the dubious list. In fact, BIll James called the 1997 the best team in NCAA history according to a different link I found. Here's that link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1589398-the-best-ncaa-basketball-teams-who-didnt-win-it-all ↗

Great article, thanks for sharing. There's a lot being written about our team this year.

Come on and hear, come on and hear, Alexanders Jam time band!

Congratulations. Do they have Jayhawks in Australia?

I'm the all time leader in PHOF's received.

This appeared today on Yahoo: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/opposing-fans-buying-40-0-t-shirts-poke-183149203--ncaab.html ↗

If you don't want to read it, some UK fans arrogantly printed up T-Shirts that said 40-0, based on Calipari's assertion in May that they were shooting for perfection. Now that the shirts are obsolete, fans of UK rivals are buying them up quicker than they were selling to UK fans.

Here's the story. When KU won it all in '88, I was standing in line for my championship t-shirt (which my son now wears proudly because the shirt shrunk), and I was talking to this man from Oklahoma who was a KU fan. He told me that Oklahoma had printed up thousands of OU national championship shirts, which after their loss, were selling for 1-2 bucks a piece. He and other KU fans in Oklahoma were buying them up and giving them to their friends there who were OU fans. Gotta love college sports, even the fools in Kentucky who are now profiting from their arrogance!

I enjoyed the first half. I didn't enjoy the second half because I was in bed. Thanks ESPN (they are reading this, right?) for starting a game at 9:30 PM, and 10:30 on the east coast.

What I don't get is they scheduled the UK game to start at 6:30 and our game at 8:30. Well, how are they going to start a game at 8:30? So at the earliest it would have started at 9. Sorry for this oft repeated rant, but these networks make really strange decisions sometimes.

Here you go approx:

Watch the travel before the prayer three. And watch Tyshawn get tripped to commit the turnover before Dukes possession.

Please, for the love of all things Jayhawks don't bring up the Syracuse game! I've tried to drive it out of my brain, like so much else has been, but I can't. 12 out of 30, those numbers are imprinted as much as 50-50 and 83-79 in 1988 is.

The thought of whistle happy refs while playing Duke reminds me of 1986, the red shirted disaster in Dallas when the refs decided Danny wasn't supposed to be on the floor and ticky tacked him and the rest of the Jayhawks out of the game, while Duke went untainted by the refs scorn. I'm glad we've beaten Duke once or twice since then, but I really have no good memories of KU playing them.

Maui two years ago? That dude is still running with the ball, no whistle. Tyshawn's infamous turnover was actually caused by a Duke guy tripping him with a pro wrestling knee to the thigh, watch the video.

I'm not even sure I'll watch tomorrow night! I know I will.

@tundrahok, and he might have had a ring had he stuck around. I saw him play in High School once knowing he had signed with KU and came away not totally wowed. His game didn't appear polished. I'm no expert for sure, but that was just my opinion.

Thanks JHFToo.
I just noticed the Knicks got blown out, but Cole played and grabbed 7 boards and tied for the team lead with three assists! Scored 2 points.
Kieff has 13 at the half of his game.

@Wishawk, no sign of any of them in the NBA. I didn't check on anyone playing overseas.

The numbers are the averages for this season alone.

Thanks, Jaydoc

I check the box scores regularly. Here's some encouragement and some discouragement.
The old guys:
Paul 13 pts, 6 rbs, 3 asts
Drew Not playing, listed as with Bucks
Kirk 7 pts, 1 rb, 3 asts
Nick 6 pts, 2 rb, 1

The championship guys:
Mario 9 pts, 3 rbs, 5 asts
Darrell 3 pts, 2rbs, 1/2 ast
Brandon Played 1 game for Utah
Cole Played 1 minute last night, 1 foul, 1 TO

The OAD's
Xavier 10 pts, 2 rbs, 1 ast.
BMac 8 pts, 2 rbs, 1 ast
Selby Not in league

The T boys
Tyshawn Sprained ankle. No stats given, but I think he played once or twice.
TRob 5 pts, 3 rbs, 1 ast

The M boys
Marcus 8 pts, 6 rbs, 1 ast
Kieff 16 pts, 7 rbs, 2 asts

Withey 6 total minutes, two points

A few observations.
The twins are hot. Kieff scored 28 last night.
The OAD's have had good games, but recent games had almost no playing time.
08 was a team, not individuals as judged by their relative lack of success.
Kirk and Nick are ideal role players. Check Nick's career stats, incredibly consistent over the years.
Pierce is the star of the group.
If I forgot anyone, let me know.

A few more thoughts from someone who could only see the game on a fuzzy computer screen for one half, and then missed the second half.

Yahoo boxscores only contain the number of shots made for the team, not total shots taken, not real easy to figure out shooting percentages that way.

Ellis is on his way to a stellar season.

White is an enigma. Black is not. Green?

I still miss our KUSports community. This works pretty good, but it's still not the same. I checked a story there that had 30 or 40 comments, but they were all people arguing with each other. HEM was there trying, but not much substance there other than him.

Parker v. Wiggins Tuesday night will be fun to watch. It will be less fun if whistles interrupt the game every 30 seconds. It will be even less fun if the preponderance of whistles favor Duke.

Finally the college season is starting too early in my opinion. Should be Thanksgiving week.

My biggest concern tonight is if the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty follow their hometown team to Lawrence.

@drgnslayr When I watch my two teams, the Jayhawks and Badgers, I want a win and take pride in the tough defense and holding teams to 50 points in less.
When I watch other teams which I have little rooting interest in, I'd much rather watch a game in the 80's and 90's. Scoring is at the lowest levels since the 50's I believe. That's when the game was still evolving. So give me more points, I'll be happy.

Last year watching the NCAA was painful, and I'm not talking about the Michigan game, which was a different category of painful.

I'm talking about watching Big East teams, especially Syracuse, hack their way to the final four. Syracuse had a game against Marquette, and totally mauled them. The foul count against Syracuse was still in single digits with about 5 minutes left in the game.

In my opinion they need to clean up the game a bit. Bo Ryan's teams probably in some people's minds, are respsonsible for the rule changes. He said it well, he said "we'll adapt our style to the changes." I sure don't want the marathon FT shooting contests that maybe it brings about, but if teams adjust, it will change the game for the better. The NFL (I'm no expert on this) rule changes making life harder for the defenses. Scoring increases and last I checked, the NFL is dominating the sporting world in the US in terms of popularity, revenues, ratings, etc.

@jryman Why Louisville? We couldn't even beat TCU!

All I care about at UW is that their teams are ranked and competitive and that someday my dream will come true that they play KU in the National Championship. I'd cheer for KU of course, but well, it'll probably never happen!

52 and 31 in his first college game. I wonder if anyone has had a game with that combination of numbers since then? I know Wilt probably exceeded it at some point, but goodness, what a stat line!

Middle America well represented. Louisville might as well be midwest, four other midwest states with a representative.

The 85-86 team was my first exposure to KU basketball. It was a thrill ride all year long, from beating NC twice during the season to the strange regional games with the controversial clock stoppage in Kemper to the terrible letdown in the 8 against 5 game in the final four.

I clicked a story to watch a hail mary pass from Nebraska backup QB on Saturday and it turns out he's none other than Ron Kellogg III, the son of the great Jayhawk himself.

Finally, BMac broke loose for 19 the other night. He was Sacs leading scorer. It was a blowout loss, so I'm not sure if was garbage time points or not, but after a bad first game, it was good to see.

@approxinfinity, like this?

@Mr Miyagi, like this?

Kirk, forgot that one.

(Someone tell me how to reply to a person so they know you replied to them like Farside did with my name in it.)
FarSide, good catch! Yes Dwight Gooden was a very good baseball player! No relation, but I think I remember hearing Dwight was the cousin of Gary Sheffield, or some other good player.