WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
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Also, what about this teams defensive improvement in March?! I will say watching North Carolina in this tournament, their guards had me worried. Love and Davis are fast, strong, and absolute scorers. We’d struggled keeping guards out of the paint all year but Harris, Och, and Braun and even Remy all stepped up to really force those guys into bad shots. This is the ONLY reason I’d consider giving the MOP to Och. He played such good d all final four and never really got any credit for it. Harris is the clamps but Och figured out how to use his size and athleticism to make himself a great defender. That block early in the first half on the love drive set the tone for how those guards were not going to get any easy looks all night.
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And a good argument for Braun’s defense: https://twitter.com/draftexpress/status/1511199273622413312?s=21&t=nReQNGh5BkAuYYUp950uGg
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We let off the gas halfway through the first half, and we were exposed as a mediocre team and UNC took advantage. That was the team we experienced against Kentucky that got brutalized in AFH.
Once we put our foot on the gas to start the second half, we became the team Self always imagined. The team “with another gear.” It all started with defense. And that extra intensity showed itself on the offensive end, too. It was Jekyll and Hyde. I often referred to it as “pace” as did Charles Barkley and others said.
We have had a lot more individually talented teams… and you think about how those teams underperformed in March… you can go back and imagine what would have happened if those teams reached down and “hit another gear.”
It’s easy for me to armchair quarterback… but if it was easy to hit that other gear, we would be doing it more often. Self mentioned the bond of these players and I’m certain that made the difference.
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It also didn’t hurt that Lady Luck’s ugly step sister, the Injury Queen, who has waved her big ol hurtstick on us so many times in past Dances, took pity on us and used her evil powers on nearly all of our opponents this year.
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@drgnslayr I also think a big part of the “let off the gas” was just having Dave on the floor vs. not having him. When Mitch came in it was clear he was not physically capable of banging with Baycot the way Dave was. And even then most of the damage Carolina did was at the free throw line. They were 13-16 from the line in the first half. It’s hard to stay aggressive and play fast when free throws start to pile up like that even though we didn’t even have THAT many total fouls in the half.
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Dave took control of this game in the second half, and even before that in the locker room. The guys needed a leader to step up and it was Dave. His words, demeanor… energy… it stayed positive and determined! This really was his game! Started with that first smoke he had on Bacot. He seemed to always carry the energy level of this team. With his heart, his struggles… he may not be our most talented big of all times but he sure has earned his way into my heart and my greats list!
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Big Dave talking to CB, cracks me up!
“He was looking at me and I was like, ‘Why are you smiling, dude? We’re down 15,’” Braun said after the victory. “He was telling me, like, ‘Keep your head up, keep going, we’ll be all right. We’ve been here before.’ I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I’ve ever been here before. Down 15 in a national championship game? I’ve definitely never been there.’”
And they weren’t for much longer.
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@drgnslayr said in WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:
Dave took control of this game in the second half, and even before that in the locker room. The guys needed a leader to step up and it was Dave. His words, demeanor… energy… it stayed positive and determined! This really was his game! Started with that first smoke he had on Bacot. He seemed to always carry the energy level of this team. With his heart, his struggles… he may not be our most talented big of all times but he sure has earned his way into my heart and my greats list!
OMG…GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I was literally coming in to post the same exact thought ( although not as well-written as yours). The real leader of the team was Dave. The fact that he wanted to go against Bacot speaks volumes. This was way beyond Good Dave- this was Confident Dave. And Confident Dave is a BEAST. Confident Dave can pull down buildings with a single arm. CD can eat Jay Wright’s lunch anytime he wants. Just a massive Final Four performance.
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I died watching this like 10 times. cb is a funny dude and one Hella confident kid
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GUYS AND GALS WE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
just in case anyone fell asleep for the past 3 days
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@BeddieKU23 big Dave is the confident one!
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@BigBad said in WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:
https://twitter.com/kutweetsandnews/status/1511760027878666246?s=20&t=oQyhLSbedHgHZrKSgYE1rA
That was sweet
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In 2008 we were winning 40-12. Monday, we went ahead 7-0, and then UNC went on a 40-18 run, but of course then we went on a 31-10 run. We won both games of course, and when you look at surviving a 40-18 run, that is really impressive. That 7-0 start won us the game really. UNC reverted to 8 seed form just in time.
A lot has been written here about media bias and I’m an expert on it. But wins like this just force them to pay attention to our team. It’s been fun reading all of the articles.
I complained about moving picks by Bacot to my wife who didn’t care because the refs couldn’t hear me through the TV, but a search on twitter shows a lot of tweets about the same thing. I don’t understand refereeing that allows that. The fabulous Illinois team that lost to UNC in 2005 was victimized I believe by the lack of the same call on UNC over and over and over. That teams version of Bacot was Scottie May who ran over many guys on his way to the MOP trophy. UNC apparently has these things in their playbook.
To be fair the same tweeters mentioned more than a few times DeJuan palming the ball which I honestly have never noticed. What an indictment on human nature because I notice it frequently with modern players.
After we won in 1988 I stepped outside my apartment and if you didn’t know what happened you’d swear the biggest riot of the year was taking place.
I know some like Braun’s chirping at the crowd. I may be the only one, but I just don’t get someone who makes a shot having to go down the court yelling the B word at crowds of fans. Although I like his game, I’m not seeing a big pro career for him, at least in the NBA. I do hope I’m wrong. Not sure any of these guys really succeed at the next level.
Major championships in my own life were the 85 Bears, the 88 Jayhawks, the 90’s Bulls which honestly became ho hum after a few, the 05 White Sox, 08 Jayhawks and this years version. So this 14 year personal drought is over. I don’t want to wait 14 years for another, but I’ve been fortunate to be witness to very satisfying champions over the years.
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I’ve rewatched the game three times already if anyone needs any updates.
Bacot should have fouled out half way through the first half with those screens. Leveled Harris on one of Malik’s 3s.
Braun kicked some serious ass on D that I didn’t notice first time around. I could live without the trash talk, but Malik was dishing it out too, so…
Also, Remy… one guy who still hadn’t completely won me over, but that dude delivered with those shots in the second half
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@wissox Hmmm…I’ve enjoyed 2 Chiefs SB wins, 2 Royals WS wins, and 3 KU NCs. Michigan winning in 1989 meant nothing to me—never attended a game in my 3 years there and didn’t really identify as a Wolverine.
Random thoughts now that the adrenaline has finally dissipated:
—KU’s rate of winning is getting faster, incidentally. 36 years after the first, 20 after the 2nd, and “only” 14 after the 3rd before this year’s. I’m 66 now, so I would like it to speed up some more!
—Has anyone celebrated the fact that we won this year, which is the 70th anniversary of our 1st NC win? Did KU have a tribute at a game?
—Finally, I am looking forward to Maui in 2023 because we might be visiting the gkids for Thanksgiving anyway. Might try to get to Bahamas this year. Will be interested to learn if anyone else is thinking about these.
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Saw this on Twitter:
“Bill Self is the only Kansas coach with two NCAA titles and he won’t have the gym named after him because it’s named after the Father of Basketball Coaching and he won’t have the court named after him because that’s named after the inventor of the sport. What a place KU is.“
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@Gorilla72 How about the Bill Self Banner Array?
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@mayjay - naming the basketball dorm after him? Practice facility?
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@mayjay I wanted to go with my boys last time, not my DIL’s. Just us. One of them brought it up.
lol!
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@BShark said in WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:
https://twitter.com/kutweetsandnews/status/1511898809441394689
Bob knew!
I saw that yesterday! Do you know when that soundbyte was recorded?
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@tis4tim I think it was after their game, heard it before
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14 years ago today…
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Found this tody from another site. Don’t know if it’s been mentioned or not. If it has been then sorry, BUT an article said that the KU/UNC title game was the most viewed title game in NCAA history 18.1 Million viewers from TBS /TNT/TRU watch was a 4 % incrrease over the Gonzaga/ Baylor game last year according to the AP - - -yay for us
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@jayballer67 i think the duke unc ff was 18.5. Hopefully we opened some eyes for those who watched UNC beat Duke then lose to us. #BWKU
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@jayballer67 Most viewed cable title game in history.
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@mayjay said in WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:
@jayballer67 Most viewed cable title game in history.
right , that’s what I meant
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CBS has to be mad that they didn’t get this FF.
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This post is deleted!
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@dylans Good Times!
