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.

Easy solution to the cop problem. Designate areas by race and allow only cops of that race. So when your getting your ass kicked by a cop we can quickly eliminate racism as a motive and allow the media to change the focus and get rid of the bad cops quicker.

Like the link below… see I bet you never heard about. Why because both cop and suspect are the same race. Now investigate the situation without the world screaming RACISM!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8363357/Jackson-cop-leave-video-shows-hands-neck-suspect-breathe.html

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Transfer List:

I don’t think Self is going to completely rule out Braun being the successor to Garrett at PG. Braun ran some point last season and will probably be Garrett’s primary back up this season.

Braun has a long way to go to run the point. He looked scared to handle under pressure at times.

@FarmerJayhawk “Big Man” footwork is not positional. The best players utilize that footwork all over the court.

@BShark Agree about the quality except one thing. The NBA is all about individual skill training. There is a lack of teaching and learning TEAM basketball. NBA teams do not practice a ton. As of today the majority of NBA players come to the NBA with some college which means they got at least one year of a coach teaching and preaching team basketball. Unless the g-league coaches teach more like a college team oriented way the team play will continue to get worse.

I actually think the only way team ball comes back in NBA is if you eliminate the corner 3. This will force more motion and screening to get open easy 2s. It would also bring back the want and need for a solid post guy. Not just a screen/3/rim runner like today.

@BShark said in Other bball news:

Hurt is Charmin soft. Probably for the best that he didn’t come here. Right now he is absolutely a better college player than Braun and Enaruna though.

This is always interesting to ponder. Would a soft player like Hurt have been destroyed mentally here or would practicing against Mitch, David, and Doke, while Self instilling toughness have made him much better?

@wissox That’s me! LOL

Thought I’d add some of my favorite pictures from the trip. Sad that it was the last trophy this team earned but glad my son and I were there.

As expected but still a relief!

Man, how many do they have left on scholarship?

I really think Enaruna makes a big jump next season. People will ask where did that guy come from.