Let's talk Summer Korea World Games- B. Greene Surgery Impact
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I have two real good and grown kids, but in their teen years they did have a rebellious side to them…
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@JayHawkFanToo Well it’s where you finish that matters. Sounds like ya’ll did good.
I hope I can say the same in 5 to 10 years-so far so good.
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@JayhawkRock78 I always figure the Good Lord is keeping us around so we can enjoy another 4 or 5 National Championships.
And hopefully some other stuff that actually means something…
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@nuleafjhawk Now that’s an encouraging thought. (I am trying to quote Gandolf-not sure I got it right though.)
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@KUinLA I wish I had had a teacher as good as Bill Self is a coach. I never had a top 10 teacher. Apparently they were all terrible as a few kids even flunked out. Man talk about not winning.
A good coach and a good teacher are the same. You don’t turn Forrest Gump into Einstein with good or even perfect teaching. You don’t turn Landon Lucas into an all star with a good coach, but you can make him a servicable back up. You help each kid to reach their potiental as a great teacher. You help the team reach its potential as a coach even if that means reigning in a player. A students education doesn’t occur in one year. A team doesn’t reach it’s potiental in one season of playing in a system.
I’m not sure KU didn’t reach it’s one year potiental the last two seasons with the healthy and eligible players that were left at the end of the season. I feel like the long term potiental was far greater than the one year potiental. Next season the players that have been around will be better. Hopefully only limited minutes are to be given to freshman.
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I’m sure Bill is a great guy and it sounds like a great experience to hang out with him in that loosened up atmosphere. And he is a great coach and I’m sure a great teacher. But you can’t ignore the elephant in the room named Tournament Upsets and that’s why I’m jaded.
And I never had a teacher who taught as well as Bill coaches, but I never had a teacher who made $5 million/year. Because they don’t pay teachers $5 mil/year. They pay coaches $5mil/year. To win and generate revenue for the school. And yeah, if a teacher inherited a group of National Merit Scholars and nobody got an A in his class, I’ll bet the administration would have a sit-down with that teacher.
I’m sure coaching candidates at Kansas say all the right things about teaching and graduating and father figure and I’m sure the AD listens and smiles and nods, but at the University of Kansas, they’re looking for someone that they believe can win. I doubt if they’ve hired anyone to ‘teach’ the game since Phog, lol.
But the bottom line is, I wouldn’t be such a sourpuss if we didn’t have all these tournament upsets.
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@KUinLA I could say 99.9% sure, if you had nat. Merit scholars, they would have straight A’s!
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I’m taking back my comments about BG’s defense. I’ve talked bad about how he moves. Hearing what his dad said, I think it would have been really impossible to maintain a defensive stance. How did trained team drs not notice this? I remember when he limped off one game. Get well soon BG and sorry!!!
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Every team that makes to the tournament except one end the season with a loss. You think KU gets upset in the tournament? Ask the fans or most every other school and with very few exceptions they would all trade their programs for a KU-like program. You are so busy thinking about what you don’t have that fail to see what you do have. Be happy…you could be a MU fan.
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@JayHawkFanToo nice!
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@Crimsonorblue22 So if your National Merit Scholars didn’t get A’s, would you think maybe the teacher is suspect? And if your team with 4 or 5 future NBA draft picks get upset by teams with no NBA talent, would you think maybe the coach is suspect?
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@JayHawkFanToo You totally miss my point.
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@KUinLA they would! Seen that. And if all 9 or so 5 star players would be coached by Self, we’d win it all! No doubt! You won’t change my mind.
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…and you miss mine; nothing new.
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@KUinLA If all Bill had was 5 star recruits then yes he better be in the final four every year. You forget he doesn’t get to choose who comes to KU he has to woo 18 year old boys to come to KU. I personally made an excellent decision to attend KU as an 18 year old. Not all the kids Bill wants will make that decision.
For instance, do you think KU would’ve gone further in the dance with a center? We’ve all read about Bill chasing all the top center prospects for the last several years. KU being second choice for Okafor, and Tarc hurt has hurt. I know Bill wants a footer with skills, but one isn’t on the roster.
As to your point about Bill making $5 million per year, so is Billy Donavon and Florida didn’t even make the dance. Billy Donavon is an excellent coach too. What teacher generates $23 million per year at their job so they can be paid $5million per?
Teachers don’t get their due respect always, but if you aren’t generating revenue it’s difficult to come up with the money in the budget. Esp. with a 660 miliion budget shortfall in KS.
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@dylans Wouldn’t you agree that Kansas, under coach Self, has had better talent than all other Big 12 contenders every season during his tenure, save two or three (maybe)?
Whose job is it to ensure we have the “center” on the roster?
Whose job is it to adjust Kansas’ attack when we are missing a piece or two that are preferred pieces?
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@JayHawkFanToo & @Crimsonorblue22 & @dylans I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree then.
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Wouldn’t you also agree that Coach Self has done a better job than any other coach in the League…with no exemptions…as shown by 11 Conference Titles in a row?
What you want and what you get is not always the same thing, regardless of how hard you work at it. I would say that he has used the available personnel as well as anyone…but I am sure you honestly believe you could have done a better job, and on this we just agree to disagree.
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How many times were we picked to win conference? I would guess Texas should have been the best team last year according to talent.
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Texas and Baylor have had plenty of talent over the years and could not do it. This last season, Texas, ISU and OU were all expected to be better than KU but in the end same story…KU wins Conference Title.
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@JayHawkFanToo !!!
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@KUinLA Who do you want as KU’s coach? Seriously I’m curious who you think would be the ideal canidate to replace Bill Self.
Coach K has been called the best coach ever this year. Hyperbole is all it is, but he’s undeniably great. The “best coach ever” lost to Mercer in the first round as a 2 seed.
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@HighEliteMajor No. The absolute best talent hasn’t always been in Lawerence during that stretch. Durant, Aldridge, Beasley are a few players that come to mind. KU hasn’t been picked first in the pre-season in every year which is a pretty good guage of which team the press/coaches feel who is the most talented and Experienced.
Coaches poll (finish) Big 12 Champ(pre-season pick)2012-13 Kansas (Tie-1st) Kansas (1st) Kansas State (5th) 2011-12 Kansas (1st) Kansas (1st) Texas A&M (9th)
2010-11; Kansas State (Tie-3rd) Kansas (2nd)
2009-10 Kansas (1st) Kansas (1st)
2008-09 Oklahoma (2nd) Kansas (3rd)
2007-08 Kansas (Tie-1st) Texas (2nd) Kansas (1st)
2006-07 Kansas (1st) Kansas (1st)
2005-06 Texas (Tie-1st) Kansas (3rd)
Texas (1st)2004-05 Kansas (Tie-1st) Kansas (Tie-1st) Oklahoma State (3rd) Oklahoma (4th)
2003-04 Missouri (Tie-5th) Oklahoma State (5th)
2002-03 Kansas (1st) Kansas (1st)
2001-02 Kansas (1st) Kansas (1st)
2000-01 Kansas (Tie-2nd) Iowa State (4th)
1999-2000 Kansas (5th) Iowa State (6th) 1998-99 Oklahoma State (Tie-5th) Texas (5th)
1997-98 Kansas (1st) Kansas (1st)
1996-97 No Coaches Poll Kansas < Men’s Basketball
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@dylans “Greatest Coach” with 1000 wins and 5 National Championships is hyperbole???
Oh, and btw, what did that hyperbolic “Greatest Coach” do a year after that Mercer upset? Just came back and won the National Championship, is all! Duh!!! What did Bill do the next year after his 2014 tournament upset? Uhhh, the exact same thing again.
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@HighEliteMajor - you sir are bitter and delusional.
I enjoy your posts but the tirades against Coach Self seriously take away from your otherwise interesting analysis. Railing against a coach or manager usually involves deep rooted parental issues…
And there is NO WAY the KU team last year was a Final Four talent. Get real.
WSU had a better team than KU the last two years. Period.
Lighten up and enjoy the team and the game. No excuses? Hip surgery is a pretty major operation. Our coach and our guys are fine, competitive and have plenty of ‘want to win’.
RCJH!
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@jayhawk-007 An excellent post. Bill Self is the Coach of the Kansas Jayhawks and he is doing the best he can. He misses on recruits just like every other coach. His team has injuries just like any other team. No one went undefeated this year. We have been a competitive team in years that we probably shouldn’t have. No NITs for this team.
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Being a head coach at this level involves three things:
Recruiting - can you get the horses? can you mix and match the OAD, TAD with the three and four year scholarship athletes? Can you get that occasional transfer or Juco stud? Can you transition kids out of the program without a scandal? What kind of reputation do you have during in-house visits? Would you want your kid to be mentored by the coach? Is there a BB/College Life/Academic balance in a good environment? Does he have their backs? etc.
Coach Self’s grade: A-
Representing - does the coach represent the kids and the university well? Does he honestly evaluate his team and have a reasonable public-private dialogue with fans and the student-athletes? Is he good in his relations relations with press and alumni? Is he a good fundraiser? Does he add value to the university as an institution of higher learning (academics) and a first class program? Let’s not underestimate the very heavy lifting required by our BB coach in light of our FB weakness, etc.
Coach Self’s Grade: A+
Coaching - practice, conditioning, weights, schemes, using talent, getting the most from your players, consistent effort (especially on the D side of the ball), adjustments at half time, motivating players to practice and play hard, creating an opportunity for your best guys to make a play at crunch time (put them in position to make winning plays), preparation and scouting, very intense calm and confident to inspire our young men to perform at the highest level of their abilities, etc.
Coach Self’s Grade: B+
I used to think HCBS was at the same level as the great ones (straight A’)s, but i think he has gone stall on the O side of the ball, and is evolving too slowly to the evolution of the game. I agree with HEM and others who believe we should “free the three” a little more and let the guards and wings dribble-drive instead of feed the post systematically and “run his stuff” rather than take an open three early in the shot clock. Still too much back to the basket, old school philosophy in the way our head coach AND assistant coaches play offense.
We should run more and press more. We should play more guys more minutes and keep legs fresher. We should adjust a little more our schemes to the talent we have, year in and year out. We should play a little more zone (occasionally), mix up our O and D sets within a simplified overall philosophy.
To get great guards, we need to let them create more and not just be post feeders. Our team play is outstanding but sometimes we overpass. We need to penetrate more on O and less move the ball side to side around the perimeter. I really like our D and our E (effort).
Coach Self should certainly learn to be a little less stubborn and pig-headed … but he is one of the very best and I believe he is adjusting and will continue to evolve, following in the footsteps of Coach K. We are in excellent hands and we would want no one other than our dear head coach Bill Self at the helm. He is an upgrade over Roy and one of the top five as per the criteria above in the nation. Rock ChalKk
RCJH!
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@jayhawk-007 I do think that you, and a few others, fail to recognize that with most that offer criticisms of Self, we are granting the positives – meaning, we understand that Self is a great coach. We get that. 90% is great. We just focus on the critique of the other 10%. I appreciate that you suggest that I have “otherwise interesting analysis.” But part of that is critical thinking is challenging what I see from coach Self, and that leads to the analysis – If I don’t do that, I’m not thinking.
If you’ve read my posts, you know that I’m a big fan of the high/low. I think the post feed is the best way to score the basketball. I think playing inside out is the most effective offensive approach. Now, isn’t that pretty much an adoption of Self’s philosophy right there on offense? My disconnect with Self is related to 10%.
This season, we had a different team. A different skill set. An inability to score at the rim. Looking at the talent that you have, and adjusting your attack to maximize that talent. Ironically, this season, we had three final four teams that embraced three point shooting, all in a year when Self said we had the best perimeter shooting team he’s had at Kansas. All in a year where this team proved regularly that it struggled to score at the rim. Yet Self took a much different path. Thus the critical analysis.
I saw your own review Self above. You just said “Coach Self should certainly learn to be a little less stubborn and pig-headed.” Isn’t that what most of the discussion this past season has centered on? Really, haven’t you captured my entire criticism of Self in a nutshell? Be flexible, adjust, and adapt.
I’m interested in your proclamation – you said that there was “NO WAY” that this past KU team had “Final Four talent”. I’m completely stumped.
Here’s our roster: 1) Perry Ellis, ranked 24, 2) Cliff Alexander, ranked 2 3) Kelly Oubre, ranked 10, 4) Brannen Greene, ranked 29, 5) Frank Mason, ranked 76, 6) Devonte Graham, ranked 36, 7) Svi Mykhailuik (foreign so not ranked, but noted as a lottery talent), 8 ) Wayne Selden, ranked 12, 9) Hunter Mickelson ranked 55/100 – and two unranked guys, Traylor and Lucas.
I’m not understanding how one can say we don’t have enough talent. Would it be incorrect to state that anyone who looked at that roster of talent, and felt that it was not of Final Four caliber, might themselves be delusional? I don’t know.
I will say that my unequivocal opinion is that if … “if” … this team’s offensive weapons were maximized, we certainly had a chance to reach the final four. But there is no doubt that we had the talent on the roster.
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@KUinLA Following this guy, yes it is hyperbole
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John Wooden
Career Record (major schools): 29 Years, 664-162, .804 W-L% Schools: Indiana State (44-15) and UCLA (620-147)
Conference Champion: 16 Times
NCAA Tournament: 16 Years (47-10), 12 Final Fours, 10 Championships NCAA Champion: 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975
Mike Krzyzewski
Career Record (major schools): 40 Years, 1018-310, .767 W-L% Schools: Army (73-59) and Duke (945-251)
Conference Champion: 12 Times (Reg. Seas.), 13 Times (Tourn.)
NCAA Tournament: 31 Years (88-26), 12 Final Fours, 5 Championships NCAA Champion: 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015
No doubt he’s great, but better than Wooden? It’s not like K hasn’t had talent too.
And I’ll ask again, who do you want to replace Bill Self with?
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“I’m taking back my comments about BG’s defense. I’ve talked bad about how he moves. Hearing what his dad said, I think it would have been really impossible to maintain a defensive stance. How did trained team drs not notice this? I remember when he limped off one game. Get well soon BG and sorry!!!”
I guess I missed some comments from BGs dad. I’ve always commented that BG had a poor stance and he needed to lower his center of gravity. Might he been suffering the entire time he’s been a Jayhawk?
It is possible that if they relieve all his pain he might become a much improved player in the near future. Hope so! Go BG!
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@HighEliteMajor How does Alexander fit into your Final Four talent analysis? Just curious, because he wasn’t playing at the end of the season. He may have been a difference maker, but we will never know.
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@KansasComet I make it all pretty simple. Self did a good job getting Cliff to KU. Self did a bad job getting Cliff ready to play in his system. And Cliff did a bad job getting ready to play in Self’s system. However, when Cliff played, the statistics show that he was productive.
With or without Cliff, I believed our chances were low to get to the Final Four playing our offensive system, which didn’t fit our talent. But 21-4 showed we were in the game. With tweaks offensively, and “freeing the three”, we were at least as good as Notre Dame (and probably better).
The discussion was on “talent” – there is not doubt we had the talent.
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@dylans Okay, maybe I’m just arguing with your choice of words. Hyperbole means an exaggeration for the point of emphasis. Phrases like “he weighed a ton,” "I’ve got a million things on my mind,’ “he was grinning from ear to ear” are examples of hyperbole. Saying Coach K may be the greatest basketball coach ever is certainly not an exaggeration, as one could make a legitimate argument that he is as good or better than Wooden, given the differences of the state of the game in their respective coaching eras.
As for who I’d like to see coaching, I’m of the opinion that there are a good handful of coaches out there who could do as well as Bill at Kansas. Granted, Bill is a great recruiter, but I think the name Kansas does a good bit of recruiting on its own. Kansas Basketball is bigger than any one coach. And if jaybate’s Shoe Company theory holds water, which seems entirely plausible to me, there are plenty of coaches out there who could recruit well to Kansas.
As to specific names that I think would do well at Kansas-- Mark Few, Steve Alford, Mark Turgeon, Brad Stevens, Gregg Marshall, Larry Krystkowiak, Mike Brey, Billy Donovan, Sean Miller–and there are probably plenty more. Heck why not throw in Tom Izzo? And Rick Pitino even became available during Bill’s tenure also.
I’m not saying fire Bill. I’d rather see him adapt his coaching style and continue to improve. But desperately clutching on to the same old thing simply out of fear of nothing else better being available (like the hi-lo post, lol) is no way to grow.
Heck I remember being upset when they fired Ted Owens, thinking “Well who else are they gonna get?” That turned out okay.
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Thanks for the comments. Could we have reached the final four, sure. We did it in 2012. But should we have reached the final four, certainly not. We were not one of the best teams in the nation this year, and certainly not with Cliff (assuming Cliff would have peaked at just the right time which is a generous assumption).
The Final Four is indeed a crap shoot, depending upon match ups, luck, getting hot at the right time, injuries, eligibility issues, one guy making a miracle play at just the right time, etc.
My point is your postings often seem to criticize the coach b/c he does not make it to every final four, and it is somehow his fault b/c he certainly has the talent, and therefore he is doing a poor job, and (full circle) it is his fault we are under performing in March.
I enjoy your analysis but I think this is not a good conclusion and unfair to players, fans and coach.
Winning is very hard. Winning consistently is even harder. Peaking at the right time, with the right team, getting the right match ups, getting lucky and having guys healthy and elgible, etc. are a lot of variables and most of them are not due to coaching.
KU players, teams and our coach have actually done very well in the Self era, most years meeting or exceeding expectations. The tourney has been disappointing the last two years, and the “Killer Bs” have created a complex within the KU nation. The 2012 team was unbelievable and they way overachieved…and got lucky to make it to the finals. . .
The lack of our big man at the 5 during the last two tourneys has been far more significant and the source of our loses than the coaching. This year, we missed Cliff and last year we really missed Embiid. That’s the way it goes in March and with a single elimination tourney.
My conclusion: Watching the elite teams this year, and watching KU this year (and last year), there is simply no way we were among the elite teams, and not final four talent. Maybe last year with Embiid, maybe…but certainly not this year, even with Cliff.
Respectfully, you write your post, concluding:
*Seeing Self’s comments from last night really just make me angry. This team began the season as a Final Four team. This team was 21-4.
But that all changed, didn’t it? We ended 6-5 and played embarrassingly bad against WSU. As Landen Lucas said, WSU just wanted it more.
I’m not sure there is any supposed injury that affects “want to.” Though maybe a media member could ask Self. I’m sure he’d speculate on that. *
Respectively, this is in my opinion a cheap shot at the coach, the program and the players,
Having talent and having an eite team are not at all the same thing. How do they mature over the year as individuals and as a team? Duke’s freshman actually came together as a unit and outperformed at just the right time. UK’s talent was ridiculous (maybe they had the two best teams in the nation), The Badgers were senior laden with a great group and talented big men and they had been there last year…these were only the elite teams in the nation this year.
KU was just nowhere near that level. We could have got lucky, won another game or two, but probably got what we deserved at our level of performance and year end team talent (ability to perfom in a game, not rankings or potential).
I am of the opinion that WSU has had better teams than KU the last two years, and that our lose in the second round this year had more to do with them, than us. Great - game on! We accept the challenge and it is good for us and our program.
But throwing the coach under the bus for not reaching the final four this year…?
I enjoy the board and your posts and the others as well - next year, with one new elite talent big (and we will certainly get one), we will be better and ready to make a run.
Cheers!
RCJH
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@jayhawk-007 I would agree that it’s a crapshoot to be NC, but I’m not so sure I agree with your comment that it’s a crapshoot to make the FF. I doubt if fans at UK, Duke, UCONN, or UNC feel that way. I would say to make the FF is a matter of having the talent, using it properly, and being prepared to play.
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There are favorites every year to make the final four, and those teams do have more talent and preparedness, and have better odds to advance b/c they are better teams. The best programs (like KU) expect to be in the hunt, and rightfully so.
But every year a great team does not make it out of the second round, and another over performs for a while (this year MSU who was no where near the level of the other three teams, or KU in 2012).
IMO, this year we did not have a great team, we got a tough match up second round, and got beat by a better, more motivated team.
RCJH!
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I don’t really see us as a contender until outsiders look at us and exchange the description “a lot of talent” for “a lot of scrap.” I’d take scrappy over talent any day of the week. That is why we lost to WSU. They sure as heck didn’t out-talent us.
I always call it “chip” but call it whatever you want.
The road to the FF is paved in blood from players who scrap it out for loose balls and rebounds. Who wants it more? And who has the toughness to go dive for balls?
I get frustrated because I think most Kansas fans are as delusional as the players… always thinking we just need to increase the talent level. It is the Kentucky way… 9 McDs AAs with most of them back for year 2 and they still couldn’t get it done. All that NBA size and talent. El zippo! The only reason Calipari has won 1 NC is the unibrow. He would have taken the worst team in America and made them a contender, but he was the exception… approaching a Wilt level talent. I said approaching… How many McDs AAs were on Kentucky the next year when they bowed out early in the NIT?
How many of those UCONN players are in the league now compared to Kentucky after last year?
I’m not against talent. It helps immensely… but not when it comes with a price tag of playing soft.
Duke won it all and they had a bunch of talent… They also had guys like Allen who would dive into a pit of cobras for a loose ball. If I could steal one guy out there for our team, he would be my first choice because maybe it would rub off on us like it did on his team mates who closed it out on the Badgers.
I give up on the idea of coaching a chip. I’m convinced… some guys have it, others don’t. If they don’t have it, then leave them for Kentucky. Let’s find the kids who dive for balls, whether it be in an all-star game or a class-3 rural game.
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@jayhawk-007 I understand what you are trying to say but if that’s the way I felt, I would just be happy with another conference championship. Apparently, that’s not a crapshoot. Or is it?
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Based on what they did throughout the season and where they were projected to finish in the tournament, UConn had no business winning last year any more than MSU had making it to the Final Four this year and in the process providing an easy game to Duke instead of the tough game Wisconsin had against UK…so yes, the road to the final four is a crap shoot and involves a lot of luck.
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No the conference winner is not a crap shoot, especially in the Big 12 where we play each team twice, home and away. There is some luck (Blake Griffin being hurt the day we play OU for the conf title, for example), but overall, year after year, the best team will win.
In a series (like the NBA playoffs) the best team will almost always win. But in one game, with little prep, at college level, playing against the top competition…the best team does not always win.
Our 2008 NC team was one of the best, but not a clear dominant team (like UK this year). Down by 9 with a minute to go and we win in OT? Everything has to fall just right and there are so many good teams, one guy gets hot…voila.
Check out year in and year out performance, in pre-conf play, conf play - we know this one with 11 straight titles - and post-conf (ncaa tourney) and you will see that KU is at the top or near the top in the Self era.
The string of 11 conf titles is actually more impressive than a national title or two but the media and fans do not feel that way.
RCJH!
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@jayhawk-007 I don’t feel that the 11 is more impressive than a NC either. Or even a FF for that matter.
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Fun Facts
Most Final Four teams in history:
18 North Carolina
17 Kentucky, UCLA*
16 Duke
14 Kansas
10 Louisville, Ohio State*
10 Michigan State
Kansas Tourney record through 2014:
138 games, 96 wins, 42 losses = winning percentage = .696
Kentucky:
163 ; 116 ; 47 ; .712
Duke
133 ; 99 ; 34 ; .744
North Carolina
153 ; 110 ; 43 ; .719
Most tourney games by coach:
Mike Krzyzewski Duke 88
Dean Smith North Carolina 65
Roy Williams Kansas, North Carolina 65
Jim Boeheim Syracuse 53
Rick Pitino Providence, Kentucky, Louisville 53
Jim Calhoun Connecticut 49
John Wooden UCLA 47
Lute Olson Iowa, Arizona 46
Tom Izzo Michigan State 46
Bob Knight Indiana, Texas Tech 45
Denny Crum Louisville 42
most final fours by coach
Mike Krzyzewski Duke 12
John Wooden UCLA 12
Dean Smith North Carolina 11
Tom Izzo Michigan State 7
Rick Pitino Providence, Kentucky, Louisville 7
Roy Williams North Carolina, Kansas 7
Denny Crum Louisville 6
Adolph Rupp Kentucky 6
Bob Knight Indiana 5
Guy Lewis Houston 5
Lute Olson Iowa, Arizona 5
Bill Self is only 52. Here is his record at KU:
2003–04 Kansas 24–9 12–4 T–2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2004–05 Kansas 23–7 12–4 T–1st NCAA Round of 64
2005–06 Kansas 25–8 13–3 T–1st NCAA Round of 64
2006–07 Kansas 33–5 14–2 1st NCAA Elite Eight
2007–08 Kansas 37–3 13–3 T–1st NCAA Champions
2008–09 Kansas 27–8 14–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2009–10 Kansas 33–3 15–1 1st NCAA Round of 32
2010–11 Kansas 35–3 14–2 1st NCAA Elite Eight
2011–12 Kansas 32–7 16–2 1st NCAA Runner-up
2012–13 Kansas 31–6 14–4 T–1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013–14 Kansas 25–10 14–4 1st NCAA Round of 32
2014–15 Kansas 27–9 13–5 1st NCAA Round of 32
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@HighEliteMajor I can make it even more simple for you. We lost Alexander towards the end of the year, Perry Ellis got banged up and Brannen Greene wasn’t the same for whatever reason. In spite of this Coach Self did not throw in the towel he continued to put his best foot forward with what he had. I am sure the plan at the end of last year was not to have Lucas and Mickelson as our big men. Imagine if he had landed Okafor and Jones? A five star big and a five star clutch shooting point? Coach Self tried his hardest and almost pulled it off. He did not get Okafor and Jones, but somehow he made us competitive again this year and should be praised.
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In case you missed it:
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I get it you value the results of a 6 game single elimination tournament more than continuous excellence throughout the season. You are not alone, but you are in the minority of people familiar with the sport and that includes just about every sports writer out there.
You can read it here and here how other people see the conference title winning streak.
If KU goes on to tie or beat UCLA’s streak of 13 consecutive titles, it will most likely considered one of the greatest achievement in team sports ever, considering that KU did it in a time of much greater parity and with a heck of a lot more capable teams than during the UCLA run when a handful of teams dominated the sport.
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@jayhawk-007 Thanks for the wonderful reminder!!
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@JayHawkFanToo If I were a UCONN fan, I would value the fact that they have had 5 national chamnpionships in the past 15 years more than I would if they had won the conference for 11 straight years. Even though they didn’t win conference those years, they had to have decent records to get to the tourney in the first place.
I have never said it’s not impressive. It’s hard to compare it to UCLA’s streak because they had to win the conference every year just to get in the tournament. Then after they won their conference, they went undefeated through the NCAA for so many years.
It doesn’t appear that top recruits are banging the door down to come make it 12 in a row.
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@Wigs2 our coaches have also been working on 2016 players too. Not about to give up on this year!
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yada, yada, yada…and KU was supposed to finish behind Texas, ISU and Oklahoma last season, how did that work out?
A lot more difficult to win consecutive titles in this day and age than when UCLA did it, they had overwhelming talent and little competition back then.
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Good lord, I’ve been air-dropped in Blue Pill territory. You know, where Bill Self is God and the peons run around with their crimson and blue colored glasses doing ritualistic chants. Places where objectivity has died. @Wigs2, you better run. They don’t like your kind around here. It doesn’t matter what you think. Don’t you know that? When a Bill Self circle jerk is occurring, you best head for the hills my friend. Blue Pill territory is a dangerous place for free thinkers.
@JayHawkFanToo is great a citing links where folks revere the conference streak. Yay for @JayHawkFanToo for the ingenuity. And, of course, for the standard “NCAA tourney is luck” stuff. You know, isn’t it interesting how since about March 19, no one cares about the conference streak except some of us? It’s weird how that “lucky” NCAA tourney gets all the run – you know, the place where a true champion is crowned? How do these top programs keep winning if it’s so darn lucky?
@KansasComet is helpful for telling everyone that somehow, someway, Bill Self “made us competitive this year.” Amazing feat. I mean really, without coach Self the most talented roster in the Big 12 would have surely collapsed. He just had to rely on Mickelson and Lucas, didn’t he. He had to play conventionally. He had to play his system. He had no other choice.
@jayhawk-007 for citing NCAA tourney achievements for a guy who has made exactly two final fours in his entire career (and of course, is only 52 years old). Why would anyone want more? Why should we expect more. And of course, our roster is littered with highly ranked players that was just not talented enough to get to the final four. Just not enough “talent.” What is an elite program to do? I mean, WSU was surely more “talented.” Stanford too.
@dylans - last but not least, for helping us all to understand that we were lucky not to lose “15-16 games” this season, but for Bill Self’s amazing coaching. How he managed not lose big, we will never know.
There you have it folks. Blue Pill territory. A tight knit group. Loyal, you know, like a dog. Where objectivity, critical thinking, and strategy analysis come to die. Where the occupants wouldn’t know X’s and O’s if they hit them in the side of the head. No time for those complexities and complications. Don’t want any of that game planning crap in Blue Pill territory. No sir. Simple thoughts. Keep things simple. Follow Bill Self. Cite the good stuff, ignore the bad. All is well. Makes me happy.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The Red Pill folks do like coach Self. It’s just that view squarely up his a** that we don’t care for.
**Edit - Please note that @jayhawk-007’s post is noted as an example. Clearly a critical thinker. Maybe not Red Pill, but certainly leaning that way.
