Best game I have seen in years
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What a battle! So proud of those young men last night. Neither team deserved to lose. And we’ll definitely have our work cut out for us when we go to Norman next month.
@BeddieKU23 said:
I get it, Self let them play but when you go 11 deep and can go 11 deep without losing what makes you good, why wouldn’t you give guys a breather.
Hard to knock anyone in this incredible game (well except the refs which I usually don’t do, but dang that was a clean Mason steal), but I sure was scratching my head about that in the OTs myself. Isn’t that what having a deep bench is all about? Having some fresh legs when the other team doesn’t? I guess I’m missing something?.
And I’m probably missing something else here too, but I know that there was person who I really liked starting last night, who also first got us on the board after OU hung a few on us to begin the game, altered some shots and made some nice passes… then got yanked never to be seen again. I know Hunter had some rough plays as well, but what if we had yanked Graham or Mason after some struggles? Yes, yes, that would have been stupid of course, but the point is maybe Hunter might have stayed in a bit longer and positively effected the game more? Maybe he got hurt?
@joeloveshawks I am typically very opposed to Landen playing at all and in favor of Jamari only getting limited minutes but last night certainly made me eat crow. We don’t win without the performance of these two veterans last night.
And again, hard to knock the efforts of those two last night… they both played like men! But I have to admit to thinking that, given a few more of their minutes in the crucible that was cooking last night, would Svi had found more of his 3s (so good to see one go in for him), would Hunter’s nice little shot to get us on board have happened even more and perhaps his height got in peoples face more, would Bragg and Diallo have had more net positives than negatives, would this game even have gone to OT? Not whining at all, just wondering if better basketball minds than me can point out finer points that I likely missed.
But what the heck, nitpicking at stuff like that in a game like that is like saying cotton candy needs a little more sugar… it was pretty dam sweet already!
It is good to be Jayhawk
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@Jyhwk_InTigrtwn Mason had a rough night with the refs and this is coming from a guy who made a resolution not to blame them.
The first half strip was all ball. Self falling on the grenade technical so Frank wouldn’t get one. Then late in the second half he played Heild straight up and as Heild went up for the shot Frsnk called again and got all ball.
Then his drive at the end of regulation getting closed lined, illegal in football legal in basketball as a no call. Funny how the tv talking heads said they had to call the foul on Lucas but they don’t mention what happened to Frank. Well SVP did on SC last night.
Then after the game the Buddy Heild POy media wagon goes after Frank saying he didn’t give the three feet and taking away a great defensive play on his part.
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In 9 conference football games KU scored a 108 points combined. Last night the basketball team scored 109.
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This post isn’t about analysis. This post is about enjoying a basketball game for being great. This will be long, so feel free to skip it if you don’t have that kind of time.
My perception of several guys was altered last night watching that game. Credit has to go to every single guy for playing their butts off last night, on both teams. The action wasn’t always perfect, but guys played extremely hard on both ends.
Both Kruger and Self squeezed every ounce of effort out of their guys. Both drew up some brilliant plays and made some questionable decisions, but they got everything out of their players.
Pack up the Big XII POY trophy and send it to Norman. Deliver it to a Mr. Hield. I went from thinking Hield was a fringe NBA prospect to being sold on him as a first rounder. Dropping 46 in AFH and playing 54 of 55 minutes, basically not letting your team die until exhaustion compromised his talents in the 54th minute of action (after playing all 40 in a wild game against ISU on Saturday). Hield was the best player on the floor. I wanted to shake his hand last night. As Vitale said last night, it wasn’t just that Hield made plays and dropped 46, it was that every single play he made was during a crucial moment. Every play was a must play. And he wasn’t just scoring. He had crucial assists, grabbed some big rebounds and played some tough D. Just incredible in every aspect.
Perry Ellis played his best game as a Jayhawk. Not best because he has never played better. He has. Best because that was the type of game that you need to play if you’re going to be a top player on a top team. He battled in a way that I had never seen him battle. He had his problems against Lattin (I will get to him in a second), but Perry just kept plugging away and made some HUGE plays down the stretch.
Isaiah Cousins has some stones. He was awful Saturday against Iowa State, until he wasn’t and keyed the win down the stretch. He struggled again last night, but then still hit a couple big buckets. He’s slumping right now, but once he gets going again, this OU team will be even more dangerous.
Frank Mason changed how I feel about him as a defensive player. I have no idea how many points he scored, or how many assists, or anything like that. I watched him get into Buddy Hield’s space last night and take on the challenge of defending a top notch player that was red hot (and stayed hot). But Frank stayed right in Hield’s space, and ended up making the two biggest plays of the night to seal the win. I said Frank was an average defender at the beginning of the season. I stand corrected. Frank is above average, maybe well above average. I can’t even describe how impressed I was with his performance on that end.
Kadeem Lattin was big time last night. He kept that game alive with his presence in the middle. He and Spangler are basically OU’s only useful bigs, and I think they both had double doubles last night. Spangler showed me more shooting than I knew he had. I was afraid he was going to be our undoing. The single biggest moment last night may have been when he left the game briefly due to injury. He wasn’t the same when he came back in. Those two are irreplaceable for the Sooners.
Devonte Graham has some Mario Chalmers in him. He wants to be the guy that has to make plays. I hadn’t really gotten to see that attitude until last night, but he wants to be in the BIG moments. It’s clear that Self realized that before I did and that Graham will be on the floor at the end of every close game from now until he graduates. He was relentless last night.
I didn’t even really think Jordan Woodard was that good until last night. He was, to me, the third of the three guards. I was so completely wrong. Woodard was in on everything. He handled the ball. He hit six threes, and I think four of them were on enormous, game altering possessions. Like Hield, he made several must plays. So very impressed.
And finally, Wayne Selden, who has morphed from a running disappointment into a legitimate NBA level performer. Wayne Selden is different. Last year, in the type of game he was having, Selden would have finished with five points on 2-6 shooting with 3 fouls in 26 minutes of a KU loss. The foul trouble would have robbed him of his aggressiveness and he would have just disappeared. Last night, Selden saw Hield going absolutely bonkers and rose to that level. No, he didn’t drop 46, too, but there were moments where Selden saw Hield making plays and went and made a play, too. That’s what the greats do. Hield and Selden raised each other’s level of play last night, and it was a joy to watch.
That was some great basketball. We will do this again in Norman in a little over 5 weeks.
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The difference between first half Devonte and 2nd half and beyond Devonte was startling, wasn’t it?
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Exhibit C was called a foul if that was Frank on the break in the first half. I actually think Frank may have slipped first, but it was pretty close.
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@justanotherfan Like you, I wanted to be there so I could shake Hield’s hand. An unbelievable performance. I also felt the same way about Woodard. I was impressed with the whole OU team…they are really good. One thing I reminded myself of though, that game was nearly a game and 1/2…so we should keep that in mind when looking at the stats…(46pts, double doubles, etc). But I am in no way taking anything away from anyone on either tem. That also applies to turnovers…in a game played that hard fought…even more impressive.
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“Frustrating that Bragg and Diallo aren’t ready still, but not bad for a group effort. I would have liked to see what Diallo could do with his fresh legs in one of the overtimes.”
Frustrating… but this game showed us they aren’t ready yet.
We can really use them, and it might be our real chance of winning in Norman if Cheick/Carlton can add a bigger bump.
I definitely am not counting on either of these guys to start dominating games. They aren’t worked into the flow. Unlikely they will this year. All I want to see is both of them adding a spark.
Look at Landen in the second half… when he came in and made a huge positive difference. He was the only guy on the court with fresh legs.
We need to utilize our bench a bit better in these games. That was the one HUGE advantage we had over OU and we didn’t use it enough to make the difference.
But I also understand that Self wants his top 6 or 7 players to lock down and flow together. They need big minutes together to get there. And we will be counting on upperclassmen this March, not freshmen.
Yes, that could change. That isn’t up to Self… That is up to our freshmen to pierce through the experienced play of their elders to show an advantage for them to be on the floor.
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Don’t forget that Jamari also had 3 blocks and the rest of the team had 2…He and Lucas really showed why they get playing time.
I don’t care what anyone else thinks but Bragg went in early and for the most part he looked completely lost and so did Diallo when he played. I understand that they need on-court time to develop but last night’s game was not the game for them to do so; it was a game for them to observe and learn…
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@JRyman said:
Self falling on the grenade technical so Frank wouldn’t get one.
That’s an awesome observation! He said it was his first one 3 years.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I thought he was talking about the standing ovation given to Nick Collison back in the day… if he did it last night, it must have been during a potty break. Or when I had tears streaming down my face and couldn’t see.
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@nuleafjhawk I heard it later on espn, he said he gave both teams a standing O. Maybe it was just words?
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In all fairness, he gave the standing ovation when Collison fouled out in OT and before the game was over. He has indicated that he had done it only one other time before and I am not sure he has done it again.
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This video of the fans giving Buddy his due makes me a proud Jayhawk fan.
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This was the best I’ve seen diallo, he stayed in the flow of the game and was unselfish. Big improvement! Might have jumped over Bragg who looked completely lost. I sure hope we have games to get them in. As much as I have praised BG, he looked so bad on D last pm. He could not keep up w/quick lil guards. Not sure what to think of ll or Hunter, each one has the opportunity to make a difference. I never would have guessed ll would be in the game during crunch time. I have a lot of praise for Mari, so did AFH! I guess if you don’t see it you don’t get it. He knows his role. As far as goaltending, they replayed everything on big screen and we didn’t see it, but we did see the awful calls we got, especially first half. I’ve never seen so much booing-Cept up north! Good thing they had security at half cause fans were really close to them and really hollering. I think somebody might have said this, but Higgins was the one who threw Hurley out at the end of a close game vs az. Hopefully ncaa is reviewing him!
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@wrwlumpy love being classy!
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@DanR 1988 14 bench points for KU, 0 for OU. We have a history of outscoring their bench!
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@JRyman I just finished re watching the game again - stopping, rewinding, playing slow mo watching much of the uncountable critical moments over & over again. I saw at least 3 Hawks-Graham, Ellis, & Wayne all take contact in the face or head - clearly above the shoulders & not once was there a monitor reviewed of any contact-. I reiterate not once. All of those officials need to get a reprimand & a charm school retraining class for that in itself alone. Higgins sucks & tried his ass off to give OU advantages the entire contest but all 3 of them should be shipped to the Russian front. Those clowns missed more ducks than Elmer Effin Fudd!!
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@globaljaybird I agree - watching the replay,I noticed contact that should have been called but wasn’t. Someone needs to suspend these idiots.
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@globaljaybird each team usually submits a video to the big12 with calls that they think are unexplainable. Then each official is graded out again. This can affect what games they do or if they are suspended any.
The problem is if any of them are suspended I’m sure they will get KU down the road and that won’t be good either.
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@globaljaybird My particular favorite is when Devonte is running down the court next to an OU player and after the play he had to rub his face after taking an elbow. I am sure that the elbow was not intentional but getting hit in the face in the middle of the floor should garner some official attention.
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@DinarHawk It was a great game, but with all due respect, OU always plays up to KU. Durant good? There will never be another Durant-like player. Hield is not and will never match Kevin Durant. UNC and OU two of the best teams? They have one outstanding game and they are two of the best teams? Give it some time. KU is consistently good. OU and UNC have more to prove.
I believe this will be the best game OU plays all year.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Exactly. KU didn’t play very well and still won. OU should’ve beaten them. OU failed to close the deal several times. OU is good, but not that good. I think this was a matter of KU having one of those ugly games and found a way to win.
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@BeddieKU23 Don’t complain about the refs. You sound like OU fans now. I get so tired of fans blaming refs. Hield takes responsibility for his piss poor pass and then says, “he (Mason) was out of bounds.” Really? I respected him until he made that last stupid comment. What difference does it make? The pass was deflected in or out of bounds. Hield over played and frankly may have lost the game with the in bound pass and the lose ball dribbling out of control which he did many times. Then fans and Dick Vitale want to hype him into some phenom. Here’s a test for OU…take Hield and see how OU responds, like when Selden sat most of the first half. Hield is not a pure shooter. He didn’t get squat against Mason. Mason shut him down for the most part. They suckered punched Mason all night long. The ref that called the “T” on Self watched Mason all night and called anything close against Mason, when guarding Hield.
The refs didn’t blow this game for OU. OU blew this game. Just like KU almost blew it.
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@nuleafjhawk Ellis is good. He played like a warrior. But he does play soft. He is too timid at times and nice. He’s got to be mean when he’s so close to the rim. He’s got to come up strong and dunk the ball more often.
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@nuleafjhawk Vitale and Mussburger got Mason and Selden mixed up all night long. What’s worse, they didn’t even try to correct themselves. The two are like listening to two old men sitting on a bench and forgetting what they’re talking about half the time.
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@truehawk93 maybe. I think they are this good, but the guys need to work on playing smarter and transition defense. OU had too many open threes in transition, and that can’t happen.
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@truehawk93 Also, I did not mean Durant pro potential. I meant Durant level college production. And yes, Hield had a Durant level performance.
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@DinarHawk Obviously he had the best offensive game of his life with 46 points. How many were FTs? I’m not saying Hield is a bad player or can’t play. He still over plays at times and let’s the hype get the best of him. When he learns to let the game come to him, he’s going to be REALLY good. He should’ve dished to his teammates more. I thought Woodard was having a really good game and was letting the game come to him. Cousins came on late. Even Lattin was starting to play better as the game continued. We are lucky it ended the way it did with Mason on the line. Kevin Durant is PURE. He did that almost every game. Hell, I remember when he went ape crap on us and we still beat UT that year. I think Durant dropped some 45 plus points that year at AFH.
My KU player of the game was freakin’ JTray. That guy is a beast. I’m so glad we have JTray. I love his blue collar performances.
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@truehawk93 My contention is that Self made it ugly by his rotation and not substituting.
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@truehawk93 I think we all get preconceived notions about people or things and they stick with us, sometimes forever and sometimes we get our minds changed for us. I know that it is widely perceived that Perry is soft. That’s been the word since he stepped on campus for the first time. I’ve never seen it that way. I’ve seen quiet. Determined. Humble. Team player. I’ve always liked Perry and I’ve said many times that I think he will be remembered as one of the great KU players of all time when it’s said and done. Maybe dunking the ball would be a good thing. But maybe it just doesn’t enter his mind. Maybe that’s not how he thinks. But I think he plays to his potential. That can’t be said for a lot of players - remember Andrew Wiggins? Shoot - he should have scored 30 points per game. That’s not an exaggeration, it’s what he should have done. Buddy Hield is, in my opinion, not as good an athlete or basketball player as Wiggins and he’s scoring, what? 28 - 29 pts per game?
Anyway, I think with all the hype of some of our other players right now - Selden, Greene, Mason, well you get the idea - Perry is the glue that keeps this team together. If he is not on the court, we get a lot of " L "'s this season.
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@DinarHawk I agree and as a fan I experienced everything from frustration to disappointment to finally excitement. And that was just in regulation!
