McCullar
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When we have lost in the tourney and we’re getting whipped without being able to overcome the deficit there are two or three ways I have observed player reactions during the games. One - those who hesitate or back away, Two - those who just go through the motions and Three - those who show no fear and attack. Some of the recent players in the number three group I noticed were Josh Jackson, Frank Mason and Svi who showed no fear. Looking at this year’s team who would you include from the season so far? I’m saying JWill, Kevin and Gradey with KJ and Juan showing frustration and appearing negative. My watching habits would put me in the frustration and negative category Lol.
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When thinking of the entire season my list of fearless players is JWil, Kevin, and Juan. Juan sputtered in the Texas games because he was exhausted and had nothing left to give.
This will all be tested soon. No more 3 quick games and it is single-elimination, so no one can claim the game wasn’t important.
I have no idea where my confidence level is on our status for a good tournament. I was feeling confident until we were hammered twice by Texas.
Our margin for error is outrageously tight. Foul trouble, injuries, bad nights… anything could sink us.
The key to winning consistently is playing tough defense. We don’t have to be having a hot shooting night to win games. And this team is very capable of playing great team defense. It will be about keeping JWil, Gradey, and KJ focused on defense. These are the guys that will let us down (most likely) if we lose.
I’m not going to blame anyone if they are having cold shooting. But blame will come if we don’t hustle for possessions (rebound, 50/50 balls, pressure TOs)… then it all comes down to defense and I will point fingers.
Self now has to make his case to his team and I can 100% guarantee he is talking about defense 99% of the time. He’s mostly having to convince JWil, Gradey, and KJ to step up. He’s also putting that same force on Bobby, Joe, Ernest, and the rest of the bench. Who knows how deep we will have to go on our bench! (scary)
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It is all that.
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Dajuan could replace Frank as my favorite Jayhawk ever. No pressure.
My top 5 right now is probably:
Frank Dave Dajuan Devonte Mario
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@approxinfinity said in McCullar:
Dajuan could replace Frank as my favorite Jayhawk ever. No pressure.
My top 5 right now is probably:
Frank Dave Dajuan Devonte Mario
My top five:
Danny Manning
Richard Scott
Sherron Collins
Paul Pierce
Kirk Hinrich
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I don’t know where to start when picking favs. I hate to leave off anyone I care about on my favs list.
I know a guy I have to mention that no one else will… Elijah Johnson. He made career sacrifices to win games at KU when he was forced into PG duties.
EJ went beyond the game of basketball. He stood up for all people of color when attacked at ISU. He put his life on the line! No Jayhawk ever gave more than EJ! I love this guy!
https://kckingdom.com/2013/03/01/iowa-state-student-government-apologizes-to-elijah-johnson/
Few know how bad that game was. EJ was attacked with racial slurs and threats at the game! Our stupid league should have sanctioned ISU for that and made an example.
F ISU! I never was so happy as when EJ stuffed it at the end of OT in that game!
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ooh, not sure about that EJ choice. Any KU player who punches somebody in the nuts during a game is instantly downgraded!
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Loved the slam at the end.
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@rockchalkjayhawk said in McCullar:
ooh, not sure about that EJ choice. Any KU player who punches somebody in the nuts during a game is instantly downgraded!
Exactly. I hate singling out any player but the Michigan game really soured my opinion of EJ, in spite of the overall good career he had at KU. The nut punch, missed free throws and turnovers the last minute of game cost us another shot at a championship - that team was really rolling at the end of the year.
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Favorite players (not best)
Mario
DeVonte
Langford
Vaughn
Dok
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If EJ nut punched anyone they deserved it. I don’t promote that type of thing in games… but I bet I don’t promote what happened to make him do that. EJ was not typically a dirty player. He was provoked.
EJ took the racial attack from ISU and kept calm. He made his statement on the court then later was very soft with ISU. He’s a bigger man than me.
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@drgnslayr I disagree entirely. You get back at them by beating them on the score board, not by trying to do some sneaky shit back at McGary for whatever it is supposedly provoked it. It was just poor decision after poor decision for him in that game and is a large part of how many remember him unfortunately.
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I’m not saying it was the right thing to do. But don’t portray EJ like he was a redneck. His emotions got the best of him. He’s human. He had no track record of being violent. If he did, I’d probably take your position.
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I’m not portraying him as anything other than a good guy by all accounts who made bad decisions in a game. I know he had no history of it, which makes that whole game so baffling to me and many others. Regardless of whatever was said, as a senior leader on the team in the biggest game of thr season, you’ve got to hold it together and let whatever was done go.
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Mitch Mcgary def had some punchable nuts
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I agree. And it is baffling. It’s something that would make a great question for EJ now. Maybe he was nailed with a cheap shot first. Or maybe something nasty was said. We know how EJ reacts when hit with racial comments (see above).
Big 10 basketball tends to be rough. Might be behind it. The punch caught everyone off guard.
EJ was completely out of sorts in that game. Not just the punch.
I’m not going to downgrade my opinion about EJ because of that one mistake.
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@HawkChamp said in McCullar:
@rockchalkjayhawk said in McCullar:
ooh, not sure about that EJ choice. Any KU player who punches somebody in the nuts during a game is instantly downgraded!
Exactly. I hate singling out any player but the Michigan game really soured my opinion of EJ, in spite of the overall good career he had at KU. The nut punch, missed free throws and turnovers the last minute of game cost us another shot at a championship - that team was really rolling at the end of the year.
Ya, very unfortunate. I liked Elijah otherwise, until he was asked to be the PG, which he wasn’t.
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EJ made career sacrifices by jumping to PG. We discussed that thoroughly in here. His game was a shooting guard.
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More thoughts on EJ:
I’m not discounting his “better human than me” nature. The nut punch was my only sour thought on EJ, but for that he simply doesn’t make my list of all time favorites, that’s all. not shitting on him otherwise.
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@drgnslayr agree
about the sacrifice moving over to PG. the proof is in the run we made in 2011-2012 to the finals. We didnt lose that game so much as run out of time.
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Sounds like Kev is 100%
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@FarmerJayhawk said in McCullar:
Sounds like Kev is 100%
Sounded like it and good things and so is Grady - that’s good cause were gonna need all hands on deck if we play Arkansas
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@FarmerJayhawk said in McCullar:
Sounds like Kev is 100%
Reports from the field sound very promising. Better than I would have imagined given how he looked Saturday.
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@BShark back injuries are weird like that. Just a couple days after I blew out a lumbar disc I felt mostly fine, but was super easy to tweak it. He obviously doesn’t have that or he’d be done for the season but hopefully it’s legit ready to go.
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I believe this is different from disc movement. I’ve had those, too.
As I mentioned earlier… my first bout with back issues was back spasms. I found it to be strictly a muscular/nerve issue. Mine continued for about 2 months while I was playing my most competitive ball. I had a few situations where I felt I could go, then had to withdraw after some minutes on the floor. I recognized Kevin’s pain/frustration. The hard bouncing seemed to kick it back into spasm mode sometimes.
During that two months, I would sometimes go a week without any problems. Then it would kick up again and I attributed the kick up to my bouncing body during play and my belief that my muscles weren’t warm enough.
This may or may not be relevant to what Kevin is going through but I thought I would share it so people get the idea that he may go well for a while and then relapse enough to keep him out of games. I could see him making it through a weekend than having a flare-up during the next week’s practice and being hit and miss for the following weekend.
My situation happened in the early 90s and my treatment included massages, hot soaks, and muscle relaxers. I believe this treatment mostly made me feel better psychologically but did nothing to stop the frequency. Surely they have other treatments available today.
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Thank god he was back. Looked GREAT today. Such a difference maker!
