Coach Proteus, or A Morphing We Will Go, or the Coachinator: Substitute And for Or and You've Got It Bro
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I razzed Coach Self on the live blog for not raining, dare I say, micro bursting, treys soon enough. But it doesn’t matter what I say, because I’m a damned fan and he’s a flipping professional coaching genius. Call him Coach Proteus. He doesn’t get there to the W the way everyone else might want him to, but damned if he doesn’t get there 11 times out of 13, before the conference. And going into this weirdest of all seasons, I would have given anyone a big wet kiss for ensuring me we would be 11-2 right now. Heck, I would have Frenched.
Yes, the UNLV game suggests Self keeps adapting to situations and confounding all of us by some times embracing some or part of what we think he should and taking off in other directions simultaneously. He is the king of both after all.
Self just does play the game on a much higher level than the rest of us, and apparently than most of the other coaches.
Dunphy saw through him, but then that’s why he schedules Fran. Magister Ludi needs someone that can expose him.
And thats why he schedules Cal. He knows Cal could never beat him even up on talent, but he knows Cal will never have the same amount of talent Self has. Cal will always have more. And Magister Ludi at the ripe occasionally boring point of middle age, needs the challenge and stimulation of getting his ass handed to him like a pith helmet on his rug once early each season to remind him that he is still not good enough to beat 10 OAD/TADs with three. That give Coach Proteus the get better incentive he needs to drive himself through the looking glass of bothness basketball that is his raison d’etre.
When you coach against him it must seem like you are getting into a game with a pillar of granite that then turns into an amoeba at the most unexpected moments.
This team increasingly reminds me of a science fiction hybrid of a transformer robot and some kind of liquid metal morphing thing.
The team morphed today from running the exact stuff the '08 team ran, to running stuff the team had run previously, to running Fred Hoiberg’s offense, to running stuff out of Ben Mac’s season, to just running up and down the floor playing grab, to running order breaks to going through periods of just gunning treys every time down the floor to pulling it in tight and doing nothing but driving to the basket the last 3 minutes.
Now I ask you, @REHawk , what other coach and team in America this year, or in the past for that matter, has ever had a team play so many different ways in one game? It is an insane litany of ways to play, in an era when everyone is saying you have to reduce the playbook to See Dick Dribble Drive, or the first ten pages of Self’s magnum Hi-Lo opus playbook. And I am just talking about offensive sets and actions and transition. Not defense. God only knows what he was going on at that end. It as all I could do to keep track of the offense. I do plead the mercy of the court for I was encountering some technical difficulties on the net today.
If Self creates a team that can consistently morph through this many kinds of sets and actions and ways of playing–like a flipping burglar working through his various lock picks until he finds the right pick that opens the lock–then anything is possible with this team, even as short as it is.
I wanted to be negative about this win during the game, but the minute Magister Ludi’s beads stopped moving, I was flabbergasted at what he had pulled off. It was like the one hit wonders suddenly playing the best of Beethoven. Not that they played particularly well, but that they could pull that many sets off at all was just flipping incredible for the youngest bunch of tin horns Self has ever put in crimson and blue silks and said, “Trust me, guys, this morphing shiz is going to work. You’ll see.”
I actually thought Self himself got overwhelmed with how many things they were trying. At some point it felt almost like the team took off on him the way LB’s team took off from him in the 1988 championship game–where the players kind of left the program awhile, and he just said, okay, let’s try that too since its working.
I was kind of critical of Self waiting so long to try to rain the threes the way I have been advocating, but the point is that he blew a team out finally that should have been very tough for this team to blow out.
And that is always the deal with Self.
In the end you are never entirely sure how the hell he did what he did.
I only know that he walked through the looking glass on morphing offensively today.
We have now been some place we have never been with Bill Self before.
It felt bad on the way but it felt good down the stretch.
Its how he is.
Its what he does.
Its all he does.
And he will never ever stop until he finds another ring.
The Coachinator.
Bill Self.
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P.S.: I kind of feel like Self did this one just to show all the amateurs: see? I can really hurt you bad if I want to. I can do this morphing bothness shizz in my sleep, dudes. And you want to know what? Next game you never know. We might ONLY run the weave. Or I might take you through the looking glass by another order of magnitude. I am playing the glass bead game here. Shut up and watch. You might learn something.
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@approxinfinity, this thread was for you. You got the old coot a little juiced. I didn’t know how it might come out, but this was it.
Thinking of one thing is easy.
Thinking of two things simultaneously is hard.
Thinking of three or more things simultaneously separates the men from the boys.
Damn, it feels good to be alive sometimes.
Thanks.
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@jaybate-1.0 Ha. Now I have to read the Glass Bead Game… Had to look that reference up.
I wish I could rewatch the game now and look for how many times the offense changed (damn you CBS). Always a fun read when you explore the Self.
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I know she’s my Muse.
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Love us some muse.
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Once again, a brilliant highlight film by KU Athletics.
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@jaybate-1.0 All time classic post. I felt exactly the same way- they looked like 2008 for a large chunk of the game, and the offense came from all over the place. No more lazy entry passes to the post followed by interior guys not finishing - our post guys went MOBILE, just like the Transformers. Optimus Prime would have to be Frank- who would have a brilliant game- a game where we now know that he can lead this team to the promised land.
It is so good seeing you this excited again. I got excited watching our team dismantle a pretty good team.
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@jaybate-1.0 What other coach? Maybe Larry Brown, 1988. But then, he had Danny. We got 38 Minute Frank! WOW! And with a splintery shank…
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@jaybate-1.0 …love the Muse.
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@KUSTEVE Optimus Prime…Frank. Nice.
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When this team makes shots they are pretty good huh? First half we missed so many easy shots that the writing was on the wall for an upset. But Self lit into them at halftime, Mari came out with that high flying dunk in your face and off the team went.
I like how we set up shots from 3, tells you Self is paying attention to his strengths. He’s never going to abandon trying to get the easy shot but the %'s clearly say we can make more 3’s than we are taking. Easily a team that could make 10+ a game.
First time all year I thought Ellis finally understood that he couldn’t just throw it up and score. He was methodical about it. Used pump fakes and angles well, they even ran some outside sets for him and you could tell their bigs didn’t want to guard him out there.
Oubre has clearly become our missing piece. His rebounding is excellent and he doesn’t force anything. So impressed with his improvement this past month. Cliff can be the other piece and he did well yesterday. Would like to see him use his right hand more on his moves because he had about 3-4 rim out left handed.
I like the playing fast, the transition & secondary break plays we had. This type of play fits this team and Self realizes he needs to steal points where the strengths are.
Heading into Conference play its Obvious Mason, Selden, Oubre, Ellis, & Traylor starting. 6th man Cliff. 7th & 8th is Svi or Greene depending on play. Graham would be the first guard if he can get healthy soon. His dynamic to the team is surely needed. Lucas & Mickelson is going to be by game unfortunately. I don’t think we missed anything having them on the bench yesterday.
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@BeddieKU23 Can you imagine when a healthy Devonte hits the lineup w/ Frank and Kelly? Vitale will be saying, “RUNOUT CITY, BABY”.
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@jaybate-1.0 Oh man. That right there is a gorgeous gorgeous woman.
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@jaybate-1.0 F@#$ yah dude! I know earlier I had said KU was going to lose this game because Coach Self would not be able to give up his bread and butter hi lo, inside out game. But he did and did not all at the same time.
Someone please tell me how many different things they ran offensively in that game and say that it was only the beginning. He has more wrinkles on offense and defense coming that he has not unleashed yet.
KU played great last night. Mason is an all out stud. I keep comparing him to Sherron. The rest of the team played very well also. I was actually surprised!
Did you all see Selden’s hustle? Did you all see Traylor’s nasty coast to coast for a dunk?
I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw that. Just sick!
Way to to KU! Keep it going. The next 18 games will be just as hard. Kenpom be dammed and his 10-8 prediction.
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Way to bring it, Lulu
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That was Traylor “initiating offense,” not from the top of the key, but all the way from KU’s own baseline!!!
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@JayHawkFanToo I was holding my breath, saying to myself, “is he really going the whole way?” Never doubt!!! I wished someone would have asked coach if he knew Mari was going full court!!
