Pre UT and KU Keys to the Game
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I think this game is huge. I hope the guys realize how important this game is at this time of the season. I am convinced the winner of this game will be the B12 Champion and at the very worst, a share of the championship. I don’t like to share with anyone, especially UT. So lets take care of business and drive for that 10 straight title and keep it at home where it belongs. Keys to the game? Inside will be critical, but Embiid and Co. cannot afford to go toe to toe with the big thugs of UT. We need to spread the floor and make Ridley come out and run him off the court. I’d even put Lucas in to put a big body on him. Let Black get a piece of him and Embiid pulls him out on swtiches with Ellis. Ellis or Wigs can take him on a switch.
Another key will be rebounds. We have to box out every shot. We can’t afford to give them too many second chances like we did against TT. The key will be FTs. I think our FTs will win games. They have got to make teams pay for fouls. I think Wigs finally realized what he could do when he attacks. UT will play D with their hands, not their feet. We’ve got to wear their bigs down and then drive, drive, drive and foul them out or get them in early foul trouble. Attack, attack, and attack again will be the Self message just as in the TT game.Rock Chalk the B12 title guys one game at a time. This game will go along way to ensure that it stays in Lawrence.
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The current conference standings:
KU 11-2 games left: TU, OU, @OSU, TTU, @WVU
Texas 9-4 games left: @KU, Baylor, @OU, TCU, @TTU
ISU 8-5 games left: @TCU, WVU, @KSU, @Baylor, OSU
OU 8-5 games left: KSU, @KU, UT, WVU, @TCU
KSU 8-5 games left: @OU, @TTU, ISU, @OSU, Baylor
As I posted before, I believe that a 14-4 or better record would outright win or share the conference title, and this sees to be still the case. From the standings, it looks like only KU and Texas have a realistic chance with ISU, OU and KSU having a possible but highly improbable long shot and it would require a complete meltdown by KU (1-4 on its last 5 games) and UT for this to happen.
Tomorrow KSU plays OU and the loser will be eliminated from consideration, which will leave 4 team with a realistic chance and 2 with a long shot. After the March 1 game between KSU and ISU, another team will be eliminated, so out of the 3 teams with 5 loses, only 1 can possibly finish with 5 loses, assuming that it runs the table. So what are the chances for these 3 teams;
OU - Would have to beat KU, KSU and UT. Highly unlikely.
ISU - Would have to beat TCU, WVU, KSU, Baylor, OSU. Possible but unlikely.
KSU - Would have to beat OU, TTU, ISU, OSU and Baylor, Unlikely.
Of the 3, ISU would have the better shot, but I don’t see them beating all 5, particularly KSU and Baylor on the road.
And then there were two…
If UT runs the table including beating KU tomorrow, KU would have to go 3-1 to share the Title. UT would own the tie breaker but it is used only for Conference tournament seeding and they would be co-champions. Other than the KU game, UT would have to beat Baylor, OU, TCU and TTU, all winnable games.
If KU loses tomorrow and wins the rest of the games, they would be the sole Conference Champions.
If KU wins tomorrow, it would have to go 1-3 to finish no worse that tied for the title, 2 or more wins guarantees a sole Championship. So a win tomorrow pretty much guarantees a 10th Conference Title for KU.
Let’s hope our team can get it wrapped up tomorrow.
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" Inside will be critical, but Embiid and Co. cannot afford to go toe to toe with the big thugs of UT."
I’m pretty sure the refs will call it better in AFH. If Embiid gets thrown to the ground, he better get the call…
Just imagine a replay of what they did to him in Austin, and imagine a no call in AFH… and the reaction of the fans. There should be an NCAA investigation on the no call in Austin. That was sick!
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If I understand correctly, the conference has weekly conferences with officials where they review the previous games and they are given a preview of the upcoming games. I am sure the KU-Texas game and the lack of foul calls on Texas, particularly the hard fouls on Embiid, has been discussed, and hopefully, the officials will be on the lookout for plays/fouls that went uncalled in the previous game. The refs have the ability to set the tone of the game by how tightly/loosely they call it. One would hope that based on the previous game, the calls will not so one sided. Having said that, I realize that Texas fans are probably saying the same thing…:that’s basketball fans for you
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@drgnslayr that’s exactly why I want Tarik to start. I’m still surprised Self didn’t get a T for that. He was pretty subdued!
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@JayHawkFanToo. Huh, the Hawks are 11-2 not 9-2. The conference is tough enough without having to play 2 games over. (beer)
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It seems like the refs always let play get rough in Austin… I’m sure many of you have better memories than I… does it seem that refs swallow their whistles in Austin every year?
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Just testing to see if you guys are awake…:)
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Anyone know which coach is doing the scouting report? Self or Townsend? I would think Self.
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@drgnslayr IF I remember the ISU game, ISU ran a lot and didn’t see much of Ridley. ISU ran them out of Ames.
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@drgnslayr I was at the drum last year and they beat the heck out of Withey, I remember a forearm to the head they didn’t call. This year Ridley was out of control, and in both games the refs let it go. I can’t remember other years but definitely the last two years it was like UT had the green light to hammer KU.
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If I understand correctly, the conference has weekly conferences with officials where they review the previous games and they are given a preview of the upcoming games. I am sure the KU-Texas game and the lack of foul calls on Texas, particularly the hard fouls on Embiid, has been discussed, and hopefully, the officials will be on the lookout for plays/fouls that went uncalled in the previous game. The refs have the ability to set the tone of the game by how tightly/loosely they call it. One would hope that based on the previous game, the calls will not so one sided. Having said that, I realize that Texas fans are probably saying the same thing…:that’s basketball fans for you
While I appreciate the ‘that’s basketball fans for you’, even the Texas players stopped and waited for a whistle after Ridley threw down Embiid. The only ones in the venue that didn’t seem to realize that a foul had been committed were the refs. That was pretty unbelievable to me. I don’t usually blame officiating for wins or losses. Home teams, especially ones with rowdy crowds, almost invariably get the better share of favorable calls. That’s par for the course. But that one was especially egregious, and not the sort of ‘bang bang’ play that could be missed at full speed, even if it’s obviously a bad call on the replay.
Still, great teams don’t put themselves in situations where they’ll fall prey to bad calls. If we can avoid that tomorrow, I’ll be happy with the officiating regardless.
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@konkeyDong “The only ones in the venue that didn’t seem to realize that a foul had been committed were the refs.”
I thought the same thing on that play. Everyone in the building was clued in except the striped shirts. Jo got called for a tech the game before for trying to steady himself as he was falling, but yet he gets forcibly throw to the ground and there is nothing called? We’ve had a couple dumb deadball contact fouls called against us and yet one that was so obviously a foul is missed? I, like you as well try not to blame the refs for the outcome of a game, but that was just terrible officiating. That’s a situation where if it’s called correctly it changes the complexion of the game.
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I’ve got fried-day brain…
Where did Cole lose his tooth? Was it Austin?
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My comment about fans was not related to the specific foul on Embiid; it was meant to indicate that fans from every team believe their teams get the short end of the stick when it comes to refereeing.
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I hope Embiid and our keeds run that Texas big boy with the neck fat into the sheer exhaustion and he collaspes on the Jayhawk in the middle of Naismith court tonight. Man that was a long sentence…lol
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A Texas Longhorn collapsed at mid court at the feet of the mighty Jayhawk. I like it.
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@JayHawkFanToo a pile of them, Barnes on top!
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And on video so it makes Sportscenter Top 10!
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@konkeyDong that could be one of the worst calls I’ve seen in a long time!! How many nightmares has Embiid had about that throw-down? Revenge is never sweeter than doing it at AFH!
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Sounds good, hope Bill and his boys can make that happen…
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Hopefully we will get revenge tonight. Certainly, if we can’t beat UT at home, then if we somehow blow the conference championship, we deserve what we get. It will be interesting to see. Taylor penetrated at will, while he has not had as much luck against some other teams. Our concerns in that area have been well discussed. Ridley and Holmes dominated…then not so much against other teams. I think mainly, they brought it in Austin and we didn’t. We shouldn’t have that that problem tonight.
