Greatest comeback of all time
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@BeddieKU23 It’s still as sweet this morning-Likely nails down lucky 13 I think. This thread has waaaaaay too much “I’m right/you’re right”
crap on it. This sonofagun was so improbable I could hardly believe it myself & Im a top 10 
homer every day of the week. If ya aren’t allowing yourself to enjoy this one, medical help may be an option… I keep some 
spirits 
on hand… & have success most of the season. Will get a little sideways now & then but usually no 
sweat.
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@stoptheflop We were playing the game with a 6 1/2 man rotation versus a team that rotated 11 players. Playing the Hillbillies is an exercise in extreme exhaustion, as they run fresh bodies at you the whole game, and wear you down. With our short bench, that takes a toll. Our number 1 player is sick. We have played the most difficult schedule of any team in America since December 30th. The loss of Doke was large, as it practically eliminated our rim protection. If our guards had hedged on the perimeter, we might’ve seen Tyler at guard, because we surely would’ve fouled out one of our big 3.
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From the ESPN game thread near the end of regulation, when I admit had lost every shred of hope…
“Kansas on the ropes against West Virginia: Frank Mason struggling shooting 1-7 FG, Landon Lucas with four fouls & Jayhawks haven’t made a 3-pointer in the second half (0-5)”
I still can not believe we won that game.
Other coaches will replay the last minutes of this game and say to their teams, “See that? 14 points down with under 3 minutes. Don’t ever give up, just play harder. It ain’t over til the fat lady sings.” Well, that and maybe “Dang, those Jayhawks are scrappy bunch.”
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@StLJhawk “Landon Lucas with four fouls…”
You would think ESPN could at least spell Landen’s first name right!
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@KUSTEVE Didn’t you want to see Brady Morningstar come in off the bench during the first half and show them how defense was supposed to be played? He was fired up every time they showed him. Brady kinda looks like Tyler:
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Everyone’s favorite Aunt Fran had a “compliment” for KU after the game.
@KUHoops comeback wouldn’t have happened without Bill Self’s preparation & confidence in his team. It’s a good arrogance earned w/practice.
Arrogance?!? What a lovely human being…
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@RockChalkinTexas Another one that gets me is when they would spell Wayne’s last name as…“Seldon”. Landen/Selden…hmmmm…seems to give them fits, just like our full court press.
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I don’t know about “greatest” comeback.
I think the Mizzou comeback was “greater”.
This was likely the most “improbable” comeback because KU simply wasn’t shooting the ball well enough to mount a comeback until basically they started shooting the ball well enough to mount a comeback.
The effort was there, but the results just weren’t, which was what made me think they wouldn’t come back because you have to make shots and I wasn’t sure KU could make enough shots (2s or 3s) to make a run. I thought they could get the stops, but I wasn’t sure they could actually get their shooting going.
In the other games, you knew the run was coming, and there was plenty of time to make that surge. But in this game, there wasn’t much time and the way we were shooting (under 30% from the field at one point) made me think that a run was incredibly unlikely.
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I saw that; it really is what I call a left handed compliment and Fran could not help himself from using “arrogance” as he has characterized KU fans as being “arrogant” before …it is not arrogance, Fran, it is confidence.
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The rebounding margin was very small, 2 defensive rebounds, and considering how poorly KU shot most of the game it really should have been much higher since bad shooting translates to more defensive rebounds.
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And here I was pouting about the 5-6 missed bunnies, dunks, etc. we missed during the game as the lead was stretched to 14 at the 3 min. mark. Not pouting now!
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couldn’t agree more!
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@JayHawkFanToo just like Marsha fans, haters are going to hate. Just keep winning.
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@JayHawkFanToo nobody should be surprised! We’ve been saying it awhile. If there are any doubters, this should finally seal the deal! Just got home, slept a couple of hours and headed home. No work today. Got a freebie KU bag, certificate from Guinness for breaking record!
Love the throw back uni’s too!
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I bet the first 37 minutes were like a gift from heaven to Fran…and the rest of the game like a nightmare…
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@KUSTEVE Get a big smile on my face every time I watch it! We really played ball.
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@dylans said:
Everyone’s favorite Aunt Fran had a “compliment” for KU after the game.
@KUHoops comeback wouldn’t have happened without Bill Self’s preparation & confidence in his team. It’s a good arrogance earned w/practice.
Arrogance?!? What a lovely human being…
I looked up lots of sites where people were trying to express their ideas about confidence vs arrogance. I liked this one especially:
Arrogance = I’m superior to you Confidence = I believe in my capability
I think Fran used the phrase “good arrogance” and said it has been “earned” to express how Bill Self is so confident he exudes “We are superior to them” (arrogance) to provide his team with the level of belief they need to overcome a ridiculously adverse situation. The same thing Self did when he expressed total confidence against Memphis. Fran was not talking about the fans in any way.
You would have to ignore the words “earned” and “good” to make it into a slam of Self.
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You are forgetting that Fran has talked down to KU fans in the past and that is not the only time. I guess we all see things through different lenses and to me, and based on past comments, the Fraschilla post was not an honest but a veiled left handed compliment…color me a cynic when it comes to all things Fran.
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@JayHawkFanToo I don’t see any lens that makes this a comment about fans. Whether he has made snide comments before doesn’t make this one snide, unless you are reading something bad into his attribution of the win to Self’s preparation.
Interestingly, a lot of Board Rats have called KU fans arrogant or spoiled (arrogance follows winning, spoiled follows losing). And, over the three years I have been reading this Board, I have lost track of the number of arrogant comments I have seen, almost all of which involve beginning with "We are Kansas, therefore…
…if a recruit doesn’t want to come here we shouldn’t want him anyway." (The most said.)
…our fans don’t rush the court." (Second most.)
…our fans don’t leave early." (Just last week!)
…if these players can’t do better than that, they should just leave."
…we should not have to accept losing on the first weekend."
…we should not have to accept having only 3 (or 5) NCs."
…we should demand that the committee give us a better bracket." (One of my favorites.)
These are all comments that would give anyone who sees them a firm sense of a fan base that feels entitled. That, and the complete assininity of most threads on the KUSports site.
We have a much broader range of opinions and more comprehensive discussions than those comments, of course, so don’t think I am putting people here down. But just remember that all the reasonable discussion in the world can be undermined by one world-class dumb comment. (Just as with Fran’s rating of PGs last year!)
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I was not citing Fran’s diss of KU fans as part of the post but as pattern of disliking all things KU.
It is obvious to me and certainly to most posters in this forum that Fran does not like KU and a lot of his comments during broadcasts drip sarcasm and the dislike is very obvious, so any comment he makes has to be taken with a grain of salt and a fair amount of skepticism.
Again, I don’t believe I am not the only one who feels this way or that this forum is an exception…essentially all KU related forums have ongoing threads on the subject and he has addressed the subject himself, so there must be some or a lot of truth on how we perceive his comments.
Frankly, Vitale’s bombastic style is not my cup of tea but it was a very nice change of pace not to have Fran doing commentary at the game last evening. Just my opinion.
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@JayHawkFanToo said:
I am not the only one who feels this way
On this we agree! But I happen to think that sometimes my lonely voice whispering into the wind might carry a little echo of truth…if only someone would hear it…
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Oh…but I hear you just fine, I just happen to disagree with you…respectfully, of course.
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Self’s comments in the post-game interview were uncharacteristically pointed:
- Dissed the referees.
- Dissed the fans leaving early.
- Dissed Weber’s ‘play hard’ assertion.
WOW! He took no prisoners last night and seemed to be providing answers to questions that were not even being asked.
With respect to the Memphis comeback vs. last night, Self made an interesting point that during the Memphis comeback everything seemed to be going KU’s way BUT last night the opposite was occurring – mistakes and miscues were still occurring during the run but the team persevered – making this comeback all the more remarkable!
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OK, guys I’m listening to a local radio sports talk show here in Topeka, and they are talking about how some people are ragging on the fans that left that game last night early, the host saying - -hey that’s on you, if you wanna leave you paid good money then that’s ok. - - Now I’m as guilty here not going to deny, but come on now – let’s be really honest here - -I’m serious now lets be really honest. – How many here REALLY thought KU was going to come back and when that game last night when we are down FOURTHTEEN points with 2:45 left. - -REALLY dead honest, how many here thought we were going to come back and win? - HONEST?
I will be the first, now here is a perfect example of what I try and tell people, and you have all seen it from me at times, And I admit I probably get to wrapped up in MY KU Jayhawks, when things like last night happen I get freaked out, and yes probably over react. - -So yes I was one of those people, no I wasn’t at the game but like many others watching the game, and when it was going down like it was – -For one I had the volume turned down and had the local KU radio station on, but eventually shut the TV off, in my man cave, shut the radio off, and came in and got on my computer and started my rant. Decided to turn my tv that I have in our bedroom on and BAM we start the come back. - -I’m not worthy, I’m a paranoid idiot that gets to hype, I rant, I rave, I cuss, My wife runs for the hills, nobody better call. the dogs take off. the neighbors call 911 ( na not really on the 911 ) lol.
So still I KNOW I wasn’t by far alone in my actions last night - -So I don’t hold anything against the ones leaving, - -So again be honest who REALLY believed we would win at this point. - - REMEMBER GOD, is listening to you, and remember this - -you can go to hell just as fast for lying as you can for stealing lol. - - ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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Watching the game… we couldn’t score. And we couldn’t stop them from scoring. I’ll happily admit I did not believe we were going to win. I did not believe it was going into overtime. I was sitting back thinking… meh. All streaks come to an end. It’s a fact of life. So that being said. The jubilation of being proven wrong was pretty overwhelming. I enjoyed the hell out of being wrong. I wasn’t turning the game off either way. But I will admit I may have tried to beat the traffic myself had I been at the fieldhouse. For what it’s worth
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This is a big reason why all of us love sports is it not ? Nights like last night. There is the flip side of course (just ask Atlanta fans ) Pleasure, emotion, stress (lots of stress last night ) passion, total engagement, incredulous joy. Pride, endorphins released…
Yikes
My week is now so much better
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@StLJhawk Didn’t hear the fat lady sing but I did hear the fat boy cry.
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@wrwlumpy We were not as stiff as that parrot but close. I heard the “bring out your dead!” Call, but by George, we were getting bettah!
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@jayballer54 I didn’t think we had a chance until we got the margin to 6. I don’t have a problem with those folks leaving…fans can do what they want. Plus, as someone pointed out, it wasn’t really that many. I did think later that if a lot of fans had left…we might not have won without the raucous environment.
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What is the point in a game where we say, ok, let’s beat the traffic? Nothing wrong with that kind of thinking, but I know if I was at that game I’m probably holding out hope at 14 down just under 3 minutes. Just under 2? Well, I’m probably walking slowly towards the door. Now if the team has given up, not fouling or whatever, then boom, I’m gone.
Some of this question depends on whether it’s my only KU game of the year, or in my case, the decade. Then I’ll probably stick it out to the bitter end. When I’m in Austin next weekend, I’m sticking to the end. I’ve seen the Jayhawks in person once since 1988 when I graduated.
Ranking this comeback in my own mind, well Memphis game is #1. That’s easy for me. It was just as improbable, but much more important. I’ll take this over the Missouri game. This is partially because one of my old students got married that afternoon and invited me, so I missed that whopper of a game. Maybe if I’d watched the Missouri comeback I’d place it above this.
Not sure how this one rates with KU comebacks in school history. Most of us weren’t around in the first half of the last century and therefore, have no memory of comebacks from that era. Surely we had some whoppers then too.
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@Fightsongwriter Its not the best. It is right up there with the best though!! That was a killer win by our guys. Killer!
I’m super psyched to see those guys grit out such a tough win like that. I mean, that toughness they showed last night!? That was right up there with the MU game come back and the 08 NC come back. Our boys showed they are tougher than anyone, as tough as anyone. They can win a game when their trey ball isn’t falling. They can win a game when their backs are against the ropes and getting pounded with foul trouble.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
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@Lulufulu Ku over UCLA = greatest wave of momentum, least important (non con)
Ku over MU = most emotional, greatest relief knowing what a loss would have meant for history
Ku over Memphis = most important, *Greatest not in the field house
Ku over WV = highest degree of difficulty, most improbable, deepest hole escaped in least amount of time, Self-described greatest pure comeback.
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I recalled a KU/OU game I was at in the mid-2000s where we were way down and came back and won. It ended up being Feb. 5, 2006. We were down 50-34 with less that 10 minutes left and won 59-58. Not the greatest, of course.
But I found a link to an old KU sports article with some comebacks – here’s the link: Comeback kids Thought this would interesting since this game would like be in the top 5.
I saw the Purdue game in 2012 on the list. One of my favorite comebacks. Teahan with the huge three.
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@mayjay Fran’s tweet wasn’t an off the cuff remark. He had time to think before he hit send. He could’ve said confidence, Fran chose to use the word arrogance. At best it’s an underhanded compliment. But why throw shade? He didn’t call the game, why comment? Just to get a shot in? There are many complimentary words that he could’ve used.
There are worse announcers than Fran, but he was better when his disdain for KU wasn’t so freakin’ obvious.
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@dylans Envy. Our accomplishments overshadow the rest of the conference anyway, but to add in the best comeback of the year …well, it’s almost more than a jealous person can take. I noticed that Doogie Snotlieb retweeted a post from a Misery grad/fan claiming the refs “cheated”. What do all these losers have in common? J-E-A-L-O-U-S-Y.
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@wissox We had no business being behind in that misery game, imo. That is why I probably discount that comeback. This game was different. We were DOA.
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@HighEliteMajor Kind of interesting to go to that link from 2013 and see some of our names there commenting on the comebacks article. We had some good commenters over there that didn’t come here with us unfortunately.
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Worst nightmare scenario for KU fans…Fran and Gotlieb calling KU’s game for the National Title…luckily now they have two additional TV streams with teams partial to each school calling the game.
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@bskeet I cannot hate WVU like I did Mizzou. There was just too much bad blood there for too long, quantrill, antlers, Norm, no-mom-Tom.
WVU has an 800+ win HOF level coach, who has a Top 10-15 team EVERY year with NO McDAAs. He was a Mountaineer. I felt bad for Nathan Adrian, who embodies WVU’s work ethic. Sure they want a piece of us, since everybody guns for the blue blood. And they thought they had us in the sights of those old muskets…then some phog rolled in from Petersburg, VA, Dead-to-rights turned into dead-on-Mon-nite, cowboy’s aim (self) was better. Beat em w/their own press! Self-destructed.
No, I only tip my hat to Bob Huggins, worthy competitor, and that style preps us for whatever midmajor that thinks they may want to press D KU. Didnt we always say our own conf didnt prep us as well for the Madness? Be glad we get to fight against Huggy, Dixon, Beard, Underwood, Kruger, & the rest of the lesser pests.
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How can anything replace the NC comeback for a trophy? And EJ39 game allowed us to tie KSU to share the conf crown with Weber. If it werent for EJs miracle game, we’d never live down the InferiorPurple taunts, like we endure from Snyder football fans. Beating Mizzou in that last mtg was epic. Self doesnt even acknowledge or shake F.Haith’s hand after that. Never seen Bill Self throw a roundhouse fist-pump in my life, as he did after that game!
WVU? Great comeback, but only to save ignominous infamy, nothing else. We saved face. Fitting, as we’d lost a considerable amt of face for 37min of regulation…in AFH, no less! Sorry to sound like a…well…um,…arrogant royalty program fan/alum…
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@bskeet Driving up to Omaha 2 weeks ago, I actual saw a car with a mizzery vanity license plate that read: QUNTREL
I Wanted to run him off the road.
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@ralster NC game gets an asterisk as it was not in the old barn, which was my original criteria that I probably did not make clear enough in my sleep-deprived state of post-game euphoria.
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@Fightsongwriter Quntrel: But you have to admit…that’s not bad.
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@Fightsongwriter Not sure if I’ve told my bucket buddies my Quantrill story. Ten or so years ago fresh outta trade school I took a job at a chrome plating shop, one of my co-workers was from Missouri and a big fizzou fan. When we played that year in football he wore his Quantrill burn baby burn shirt. I googled Quantrill for him long story short he never wore it again and said he threw it away. He wasnt Caucasian (not that it matters to folks outside of racist Missouri) , I think it really bothered him.
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Best game I’ve been to was the last mizzo game, hands down. Triple ot ou game was awesome, 2 years ago, when ll landed on Perry during the West Virginia game was a great come back too. Of course last pm was awesome to be there. I’ve been super blessed to see those games! The noise thing might have been lame, but pretty sure Adrian lost that ball due to me and a thousand of my friends! We actually broke the Kentucky record 3 times Monday pm. The few that left and the ones that gave up didn’t hurt us at all. I call those guys soft!
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@kjayhawks Thanks man! Someone’s gotta educate Mizzou students/fans. I don’t have the patience required to work with special people.
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@Crimsonorblue22 said:
Best game I’ve been to was the last mizzo game, hands down. Triple ot ou game was awesome, 2 years ago, when ll landed on Perry during the West Virginia game was a great come back too. Of course last pm was awesome to be there. I’ve been super blessed to see those games! The noise thing might have been lame, but pretty sure Adrian lost that ball due to me and a thousand of my friends! We actually broke the Kentucky record 3 times Monday pm. The few that left and the ones that gave up didn’t hurt us at all. I call those guys soft!
️JEALOUS! I’ve seen some good ones, but they were in the L Brown and R Williams era. You’ve seen been to some of the greatest games of the Self era.
As for the best of the games you mentioned I have to give it to the final Missouri game. When we won, the feeling I had was very similar to winning the national championship. I know it shouldn’t be the same as it gives Mizzou too much credit, but the emotion was similar.
The OU 3OT game was unique in that it was back and forth and both teams played so well throughout… I just marveled at both and was proud that we came out on top.
The WV game was just so improbable that I’m still trying to process how incredible that comeback was. It looked like we were baked… there was virtually no margin for error, And after everything went wrong earlier, the momentum shifted and everything started to work out for us.
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@Fightsongwriter Not to get sidetracked with our greatest-comebacks lists, I totally agree about WVU comeback being great. Ive rewatched it a few times already. Truly special!
And you’ve allowed many of us to re-live more than 1 of KU’s special comebacks, just by having this thread…thank you!!
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@jayballer54 You asked how many thought that KU would comeback? I did. I always do. I also don’t lose my mind when we lose. I try to get over it as soon as possible. I never bail on the team. As a fan, I feel they deserve my undying support. It’s easy to make a comment saying the team sucks when they are losing. This player can’t do this. This player can’t do that. Where is this player? Why isn’t he producing? Those are easy comments designed to make the fan feel better, which I understand to some degree, it’s just not for me. My question is this: How hard do you think the Kansas Jayhawks are really trying to win? If they lose, I am sure they feel a lot worse than I ever could. They are the ones putting in the practice time, including numerous hours afterwards on their own, fine tuning their skill, and working to improve their shortcomings. So, I cheer to the final whistle, celebrate when we win, say damn when we lose. So, yeah with 2:45 left I thought we would win. Any Jayhawks fan that was still watching, at least hoped that the team would win, and that is good enough for me.
