KU Beat Serbia by 1 and No One Has a Clue How
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The Serbs sure didn’t.
They looked bigger and better.
They appeared to have more guys that could shoot the ball.
Bill Self seemed to be letting his team “labor.”
KU shot very poorly for a long stretch of the game.
Landen Lucas disappeared completely, which often is another way of saying “unreported injury.”
Nic Moore got in foul trouble.
And on a day when KU’s starters could not hit the trey, Bill mysteriously decided to save Vick the Stick till the end to make one that would inspire Wayne the Brick to turn into Wayne the Drain with a few seconds to go.
Yet again, and maybe more so than any other WUG game so far, Self is approaching coaching not as a craft, but as an art.
Oh, c’mon!
Not even an art.
Its more like magic.
KU’s victories are increasingly the illusions of a magician–not the work of a coach.
Not a wizard.
An every day, illusion constructing magician.
Lucas? I don’t need no stinking Lucas. He doesn’t even need to be on the floor. What I need is Traylor endlessly making misplays, Ellis having an off day, and Hunter Mickelson doing everything wrong on post defense and getting torched by his man; that’s what I need to win this game.
Bragg? I don’t need no stinking Bragg. All Bragg needs to do is provide me with the illusion of a nose that is not broken. All he needs to do is NOT wear his mask. He doesn’t need to play competently. He doesn’t need to stay with his man on defense. He doesn’t need to be a factor at all. He just needs to be the illusion of a factor. He just needs to walk around looking like a player even though he isn’t one yet. Iago has nothing on me. Appearance well managed IS reality. Othello, baby, watch me, watch me. The illusion of Desdemona loving me comes next, baby.
I am the Amazing Billnac, Coaching Seer from the East. Guards taller than a yard stick? Don’t need’em. Freshman wings with legs thicker than mylar? Don’t need’em. A experienced stretch 4 playing like my best player? REALLY? Like who needs that. That would be too easy.
All I, the Amazing Billnac, need is some hair plugs, and an opponent that wants to try to set tempo and define how we will play. With that, I will conjure up a win at, or near, the buzzer and leave yet another opponent completely bum-fuzzled about how it lost.
One day, it seems, Self may just make an opponent completely disappear and then reappear before our eyes just for the heck of it.
We sucked.
We didn’t even play good defense as we had previous games.
Defense?
Who needs it?
We won with illusion.
All hail the Amazing Billnac.
Hiiiii-yo!!!
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Final moment:
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Loving the Games video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=irc6NhjPk08
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"How did we lose that game?
Welcome to Self’s “BAD BALL!” So one more opponent felt like they would win because they shut down our offense… but they still have to score, too!
Self, “It’s the defense, stupid!”
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@jaybate-1.0 Great post. I would comment, but Jed and Granny need me to go down to the root cellar, and bring up some possum for Granny’s possum stew.
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@KUSTEVE Grab some shine while you’re there…
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Man, that was bad ball déjà vu all over, again.
Completely agree about Lucas. Did anyone else notice when he decided not to go immediately up for an unguarded dunk but wait for the defense to recover and then shoot an air ball completely over the rim from 2 ft?
@jaybate-1.0 when you gonna join the in game chat?!?!
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From the FIBA rules
4.4.2.
yada, yada, yada…
Compression sleeves of the same dominant colour as the shirts.
Compression stockings of the same dominant colour as the shorts. If for the upper leg it must end above the knee; if for the lower leg it must end below the knee.
Why are Serbian players allowed to wear compression gear that is not the same dominant color as the uniform, i.e. red? All the KU players wore white gear which is the dominant color of the uniform.
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@globaljaybird No need. Granny has a secret stash in the cabinet behind the pots and pans.
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so which big 12 opponent did Serbia most resemble? I’m going to say Texas.
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@JayHawkFanToo How dare you question FIBA officials on rules enforcement. If the US would get in line with the rest of the world and just adopt FIBA rules there would be no problem. (sarc off)
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@KUSTEVE If you need me, I’ll be out in the cement pond with Elly May.
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@bskeet They reminded me of Iowa State. All of their players rotated to the three point line and they had several Big’s, ala Niang, that could drive to the basket on anyone.
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I am not sure if some of the rules are eased for the WUG. I know the KUSA uniforms were not compliant since the name of the country was not displayed and we got away with it; of course the uniform had to be changed after that…
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@brooksmd That’s hers, I’d like some for you & I after our game rants…will make it easier to sleep-I have a 6:00am start Thursday…If it’s shine it don’t take much.
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@RockChalkinTexas Mason is right when he talks about these great experiences! They realize what a great opportunity it is for them!
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When we were behind by 3 with 40 seconds left, I was looking to see who was on the court that was a scorer. The only one there was Selden. He got the ball and was heavily guarded, threw it to Nick and like a guard, Nick faked and quickly got it back to Wayne who was barely open and drained the shot. So many times in the last 20 years something like that happens. I would have to say that somewhere during practice there is a session where Ice Water is injected into the veins of certain players. I never would have guessed that I would be screaming with joy at midnight on July 7th. Rock Chalk.
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@JayHawkFanToo I noticed that too during the Turkey game. One player had white sleeves on his arms and others were red.
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I imagine they give them some leeway and a warning. Apparently KUSA was told that if it did not change its uniform it would start forfeiting games and thus the late trip to the local seamstress to get the USA sewn in front.
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Did Lucas shoot off a toe or two with that halftime shove? If my memory hasn’t failed me (again), Lucas did not get off the pine, second half. Mickelson’s play had lots to do with that coaching decision, I suspect. But LL might have been swept to the chill box. He does seem inclined to respond to his tormentors with a chip. Needs to get strong enough that he can retaliate with grins and chuckles rather than peevish and potentially costly defiance. More time with Hudy; less time on the links.
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@REHawk hopefully not the entire foot…
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We won because Wayne was the best player on the floor.
And because Serbia shot 4/26 from 3.
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@jaybate-1.0 Great topic … Coach Self has the team exquisitely prepared for this format, and on a short turnaround. I also like his more calm demeanor, and what appears to be a more patient approach. Or maybe it’s because he’s behind a barrier. Whatever. I like it. Everything looks in much better flow. Any complaints on playing time and player usage? I don’t have any. All looks about right in my book.
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@jaybate-1.0 I just finished watching the replay on the espn site. That was a tough tough game where our guys couldnt hit the broadside of a barn most the night. Wayne came up huge, Mickelson came up huge. All of them are playing so worn out from the back to backs. I thought we might have a chance to lose that game but we didnt!
Im going to say it right now. This fall, KU is going to be one of the hardest teams to beat with all this added experience.
UK is gonna get the tar beat outta them at AFH.
