stoptheflop said:

Newman, not Graham has become the leader of this team. on a

Totally disagree with this. I have been hard on Devonte this year on this board. I called him out for not being a leader and chucking up dumb shots and making horrible decisions at times.

He has actually learned that there is more to being a leader than leading the team in scoring. Yesterday he settled the guys down, didn’t force stuff against the zone too much, and made great decisions, including finding the hot hand Newman.

He’s become a better leader than I thought he could and it’s been great to see.

So far this trip is UNBELIEVABLE. Visited the Fieldhouse this morning and did a walk up tour so got some good pictures by the floor. While My son and I were looking at the Naismith rules an older gentleman and his wife approached us.
He then told my son “that’s my granddaddy”. It was in fact Jim Naismith, James’ grandson. Crazy! Then before we left the Fieldhouse we actually ran into Dok(e) and my son got a picture! We still have the game to look forward to!

After this weekend, if one of these two men win the title, that man will be labeled the best coach in college basketball. If its Jay Wright it’s because he is perceived to have ushered in “small ball” to college basketball and won 2 championships in 3 years. If its coach Self then a second championship validates his insane regular season record over the last 15 years at Kansas.

The are both in their mid 50s and will probably reign another 10 years. Izzo has had his media darling image tainted with all the MSU issues and he hasn’t succeeded lately in the tournament. K and Roy are both in their twilight years.

All of this is just media fodder, but it can define the perception to casual college basketball fans. However I would suspect that just like us, Villanova, Kentucky, Duke, UNC, and Michigan St, wouldn’t trade their coach for any of the others regardless of perception.

Bosthawk said:

I’m worried about all the self-can’t-get-past-elite-8 posts coming if we do lose. Should be a tough tough game. And yep if we hit our shots, we should be

But So far, This has been a great season, let’s face it! Win or lose, been a great ride for me at least.

This is what REALLY REALLY pisses me off. In coach Ks 34 years has he once developed a 3 star player? Has he ever not had the most talent? He has NEVER had a season where he didn’t land a McDonald’s All American. He is now the biggest one and done guy. In the past 16 seasons Duke has been either a 1 or 2 seed 12 times yet only made it past the sweet sixteen FOUR times. Despite all this talent EVERY year he never gets called out for “choking”.

Bill Self has just developed back to back 3/4 star high school guys into first team all Americans. He ROUTINELY does more with less. The fact that he completely maximizes the talent almost always means a tournament “upset” will happen because Kansas earns seed beyond their talent. VIrginia did the same thing this year. Yes the accomplished things to be a 1 seed but at the end of the day their talent(not a single nba guy) isnt really 1 seed quality.

I know most here hate Kentucky the most. I don’t have enough hate left for anyone after Duke.

Rock Chalk

In politics people demonize “the 1%”, in basketball people want entire systems changed to accommodate the 1%.

@hawkmoon2020 After the 2007 debacle where we were a #1 seed and UCLA a #2 seed in SAN FREAKING JOSE, I dont ever want to hear a complaint about a “home game” if ou are the LOWER seed!

We were a 1 seed and got screwed!

Refs were not great but they didnt cause the guys to have such a bad shooting night.

STOP HAVING GAMES IN FOOTBALL STADIUMS!!!

The shooting atmosphere is horrible.

He’s a junior and he is the type of player Self rides HARD. He has all the athletic tools and lacks on the one that doesn’t take talent, effort.

BeddieKU23 said:

Newman made every FT down the stretch, he was clutch.

I loved how Malik wanted the ball in his hands in the last seconds. Not scared to shoot those FTs.

I’m calling it now, Lightfoot will help on defense this game.

@Kcmatt7 Imagine paying the buyout of a LIFETIME contract. I think they have to pay 7 years if you oust him.

@BShark said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

@BeddieKU23 Really liked Self sticking with Bryce late. Feel like he earned it, good to let him play through a mistake.

HUGE sign Self MIGHT be softening a bit. 99.9% of the time a freshman is immediately pulled with a turnover in that situation.

@wissox said in CreightonBarrel Game Random Thoughts:

Christian Braun is kind of a head case. It reared its ugly head against Gonzaga when he got T-d up for being a jerk after dunking on a guy and I saw a flash of it today when he barked at the Creighton bench or another player, I couldn’t see which, after making a 3 pointer late.

If you think he is a “head case”, then I don’t think you understand what it takes for a kid like him to be competitive in the high-end AAU circuit for years.

@Kcmatt7 Just going to have to mix it up this year. The thing is Self seems more like a reactive coach than proactive. I hope Self changes lineups throughout the game to the point the other coach has to respond.

@BShark said in After 3 games- Discussion:

@Crimsonorblue22 Kentucky’s athletes were too much for Bryce. I would expect him to be better in the games coming up against softer competition. I do believe Bryce can get to a point where he will be good in games like that, it will just take time.

This is a common theme with many of Self’s guard recruits. Mainly because he loves combo guards. The problem with combo guards is they generally are not elite at either shooting or ball-handling/playmaking, they are just good at both. This is always a problem early in the college season and continues until they shore up one or both of those skills. RusRob, Chalmers, Selby(not here long enough to fix), Selden, etc were all in this mold.

Harris is more playable than Bryce right now because his playmaking/point guard skill is at a higher level. He is an actual point guard. On the flip side Bryce has a higher ceiling and its up to the staff to get him closer to it by mid/late season.

@jayballer67 said in Calamari Game Thread:

@BigBad said in Calamari Game Thread:

Small ball lineup is the best lineup but Dave/Mitch will have to play some to keep Jalen out of foul trouble. Unless we stay small and let Marcus guard a big.

WE JUST GOT TO HAVE dAVE AT SOME POINT - - GOT TO GET BETTER. - -WITH OUT A DECENT big - NO CHANCE AT A TITLE

Nova has won two titles without much of a “big”

Small ball lineup is the best lineup but Dave/Mitch will have to play some to keep Jalen out of foul trouble. Unless we stay small and let Marcus guard a big.

If Harris doesn’t start this year then I 100% believe Self makes recruiting promises.

@BShark Harris just seems to be a high basketball IQ guy. I wish guys got more enamored with that skill and shooting. Forget about all the athletic crap.

Dave 1-8 with 2 rebounds…EEEEK On the good side he is 4-4 at the line