Best posts made by Jethro

This week is like xmas for me. From the very first time that brackets were available, I have been enthralled at the beauty and magic of this tournament. How lucky I have been to have watched such an amazing program like KU. The last 40+ years have been a joy watching this program, these coaches and these players, as they redefine excellence. Clearly they are the best sports team in America, bar none. Name someone else with the 35 + years of the excellence we’ve had? Name somebody else who is a better basketball coach than Bill? And to have a team this year that carries the torch proudly, working so hard for so many minutes, hours, days, and months giving everything they have for us. How lucky we are. How blessed we are. Sorry if we doubt you at times. Win or lose…thank you, Jayhawks!

I’m not done rolling in it-it’s just so amazing. I might roll in this one for years. It’s been like a weight ever since 2008…so many great teams, so many teams that came up short… the POUNDING we put on Nova was great! The 2nd half of the Miami game was incredible. The first half defense against Providence, the way we swatted away Creighton’s bid for an upset, and to top it off by coming back from 16 down was storybook, it was amazing, and it validated this team, this program,us fans, and this coach.

WE’RE BIG EAST CHAMPS!!!

Hey, hope everyone is well. I’ve been on stealth mode for awhile, but I always read the posts. No, there are not pages of analysis like there was before, but there is still very good stuff. This is the best collection of KU fans on the intraweb. So, let’s get to analyzing: We kind of crapped the bed a bit yesterday, but maybe we realize how important Remy is when we pontificate why we looked so crummy yesterday. Our offense simply has to start 2 point guards, or we end up looking like last year. JCL>Jalen. Put him in, coach…he’s ready to play… Big Dave is in a state of mental confusion, so whatever they are doing to help him ain’t working, folks. They need to make a mix tape of last year when he smoked it during conference, and make him watch it about 1,000 times… It really sucks we couldn’t get our feet wet in conference at home against the Purple Toads, and now have to go on the road for our first 2 conference games, followed by a Clone invasion. Geez, the road gets much more difficult from here on out. I still think the ceiling is national championship. Let’s win the conference, and beat Dook and Ratface for the title!

Saw a tweet today that showed KU has a 21 year streak of being a 4 seed or higher in the tournament. The next closest is Gonzaga at 5 years. How lucky we are!

We just set a new national record by winning our 15th Quad 1 win in a single season. We’re 15-5 in Quad 1 games. We have played the toughest schedule in all of college basketball by far. 2nd place has 10 Quad 1 wins. We are winning what they are saying is the toughest conference in college basketball in the last 20 years.

West Virginia is ranked 20th on Kenpom. West Virginia has played the 5th toughest schedule in college basketball. They aren’t a bottom feeder. They are in the toughest conference in college basketball in the last 20 years. The first time we played them, they didn’t have a point guard. This time they did.

All I’m going to add is my sincere thanks to this coach and this team for a truly amazing job this year. To lose 6 of your top 8 scorers… to win 24 games playing the toughest schedule in America, to be in first place in the toughest conference in college basketball in the last 20 years and in position to win Bill’s 17th conference title in his 20 years, to be ranked in the Top 3 (after winning a national championship the year before) is truly an incredible accomplishment. My opinion is we’re playing with house money, so every victory is a blessing.

We don’t win this w/o Remy…

A little off subject, but I have to say that the UNC fanbase might be the classiest group of folks I’ve ever encountered as an opponent. Dozens and dozens of them on another site came in and congratulated us. I was a little shocked. We share a mutual hatred for Dook, and they genuinely were about as gracious as I’ve ever seen. RCJHGKU.

@BShark said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@mayjay said in Next Year's Team Thread:

@BShark Outside shot is great, but we need some big bodies down low. He got pushed out of position a lot this year. Needs to put about 30 lbs of muscle on, especially in his leg strength.

Another offseason with Nijem will do wonders.

Speaking of Nijem, remember when we used to play NCAA tournaments years ago, and our guys were exhausted? I have noticed how much fresher our team looks compared to the other teams- case in point…UNC. We wore out Nova and Miami as well. I know Nijem doesn’t get the credit and the publicity that Hudy used to get, but I firmly believe he is superior as a trainer and it showed during the tournament run. He’s part of the team that is working hard in the background… that get little to no credit…yet his contribution to our title is enormous.

@BShark said in Border War Game Thread:

Another thought is Kevin has been great the last two games. Was so smart to not bother playing him against Texas Southern.

McCullar coming alive has changed this team.

K-State’s day of relevance is over. Their 0-8 record in their last 8 EE games remains unblemished. No Final Fours since 1964. Lost to KU a national record 200+ times. Show me a good K-State loser, and I’ll show you someone whose had a lot of practice at it.

Love getting the W in Stoolwater. That’s a place that has been rough for us too many times. The blown lead and the 9 minute drought sucked, but we managed to come back, and post a double digit victory. No doubt we have issues. We certainly don’t look like the 6th best team in the country. But, we live to fight another day. Rock Chalk.

Our best defensive game of the year. We held them to .078 points per possession.

As i step back a bit from the original impression of the brackets, I am pretty glad we ended up with the 4/5 seeds we did. We avoided Houston, Arkansas, Illinois, and UCLA. We face a Hawkeyes team that hasn’t been to the S16 since 1999, and/or a Providence team that just got manhandled by 30 in their conference tournament. I still am hoping Auburn gets upset, as I would much rather play Wisky in the E8.

Remy was our best player today. The Braun 3 might’ve been the clutch shot of the day. The clutch defense play of the day was Big Dave’s block.

wish i was on mass st about now…drink one for me…

Welll…looky, cookie…NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! Thank you, guys for an incredible season. Sorry I doubted you after the TCU game. I think the team broke thru a barrier this year, and our coach broke thru a tournament barrier this year. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Coach win multiple championships from here on out. Just flat amazing!

I rewatched the game for the first time this morning. This was really an amazing team. Terribly inconsistent, but amazing anyway. We won because we ran on them and wore them out. They were gassed- they had nothing left. Even if they had tied it, we would’ve smoked them in overtime. Our depth won this game. We were fresher, more energetic at the end of the game. UNC was battered, bruised…dragging ass. Braun came out like a badass 2nd half. Dave was the most determined I’ve ever seen him. And Remy was flat electric. Dujuan doesn’t get the headlines, but his defense 2nd half was amazing. And even JW finally got going after his and 1. And the MOP played well , too. I wouldn’t call us Danny and the Miracles, and we were never as dominant as 2008, but this team goes in the slot as Self’s most offensive gifted team ( my opinion), and one of his ( when they wanted to) greatest defensive teams as well. The runs they made against teams in this tournament goes down as legendary.

@approxinfinity said in KU/Big 12 NBA draft decisions thread:

It feels like we are just scratching the surface of how lucrative NILs can be. Having an advertising presence can help build a brand that someone who is social media savvy (like Jalen maybe) might capitalize on after college whether or not he goes league

If I win the Powerball tonight, there WILL be a Jethro NIL.

This rebuild year is more of a reload year. The passing is exquisite- the shooting is remarkable. KJ has become my hero. Load the wagons again!

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Bubble Watch:

@Jethro said in Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Bubble Watch:

@approxinfinity said in Bubble Watch:

@dylans said in Bubble Watch:

@drgnslayr You really can see how good of a coach K was after watching this crap show. (Always knew Roy was legit!)

Really? I was thinking the opposite. You put a kid who has no clue what hes doing in for K and they have about the same resume. Duke didnt get out of the first round something like 4 times under K since Self last got knocked out first round

Coach K won 5 national titles in 3 different eras of college basketball he knew how to coach and adaptto different eras. Upsets are more prone to happen with younger teams. Look at the years Self didn’t make it past the weekend and those are pretty much least experienced teams at KU. You can dislike him all you want, but to diminish his accomplishments is just plain ignorance and stupidity.

We have always paid Coach K the ultimate compliment- we hate his f***king guts. If you want to worship him, I’m sure there are better places to do that than here.

Why do you hate him? Is it because he won at an extremely high level for so long with several high profile wins over KU during that time? Acknowledging that Coach K won titles in different eras doesn’t mean I’m worshipping him, it means I’m acknowledging that he was a great coach over a very long period of time and was able to successfully adapt to different eras of college basketball.

I already told you why I hate him. I don’t hate him because he sucks . I hate him because he’s good. Other than the rotten personality, making everything all about him all the time (especially the retirement year), the lucky break he got when Archie Marshall went down in the FF, his sanctimonious lecturing of opposing players, and the fact he looks like the most unhappiest human being on earth, I love the freaking crap out of the original Rat face. No one will ever convince me he didn’t get the easiest draws in the history of the sport on several of those natties. And no one will ever convince me that Bill isn’t a better coach. So, you love him, I hate him.

Yeah, I didn’t know there was a gun in my car. Reminds me of cop shows where the suspect says the pants he’s wearing aren’t his, and he didn’t know there were drugs in them.

very proud of the effort.

Saw this…

"For what it’s worth, Remy Martin’s dad Sam texted me this tonight. He’s seen some of what’s been said/rumored.

“I can tell you 100% that remy has NO problem with coach Self or any other coach/player within the KU program. Remy loves Kansas basketball.” #kubball"

Congratulations, Sherron. You will do an excellent job!

It’s a win. So ugly…lol.

Denver is 9-0 when Braun plays at least 20 minutes. Morant was 2 for 7 with 2 assts and 1 t.o. with Braun on him.

@kuballin10 said in Boo Part 2 Game Thread:

@BShark said in Boo Part 2 Game Thread:

https://twitter.com/samlance_/status/1488704778473549826

OIC

@Kcmatt7 @BeddieKU23

AHHHH there’s more

Self when asked about Yesufu: “I thought he was great. Maybe I’ve been playing some of the wrong guys. I mean, I’ll be honest. That’s the Joseph we thought we would have, and I do think he can be instant offense.”

Just admit you effed up Self and your biggest weakness is playing the right guys since 2004

aHEM… lighten up, Francis- we beat a ranked team on the road without our best player. Maybe you should wait until we lose again.

Scott Drew is now 6-27 against KU.

@drgnslayr said in NOT Remy?!:

Defense is our Achilles… That is never proven more than the Bluejay game. We could have shot better from the field but otherwise, we can’t expect to do better. We dominated boards, we shot the lights out from the line, we had almost no TOs… we dominated possessions!

Teams like the Zags feast on teams like ours. Turning the game into a game where we try just to outscore our poor defense will not get it done versus the Zags.

Yes, I sound negative… but listen to Self. We need that gear we haven’t hit yet. And though Remy brings us a big punch… the real secret weapon we have is that gear we need to reach. I don’t think the Zags have the personnel to stop us from hitting that gear… it is all within our guys to find it. It means we play totally free from overthinking and we just go out there and run hard on both sides of the ball.

If this happens… we can win a National Championship, no problemo. And we will all be blessed with watching some of the all-time best Hawk ball ever to be played… and it comes from a group of guys not at the personal level of other teams we’ve had.

No matter what, I’m proud of these guys for achieving what they have… and I’m hopeful having a week to prepare and a healthy Remy, we find that gear Self is talking about. Wow!

RCJH!

I’m calling it - Arkansas beats Gonzaga.

The gift that just keeps giving. The Final Four with an excellent chance of cutting down the nets. Payback time for Villanova…the chance to send the Rat packing- it just doesn’t get any better than this. Win or lose, thank you Jayhawks!

What an amazing season. It looked pretty grim numerous times. There is not one person that thought we would be favored in the national championship game earlier in the season. I think Remy and Och and Braun go wild. I think Dave gets his. I think we lock them down. I think we blitz them with our best game of the year.

they blew a 26 point lead against baylor- we’re coming back, and we’re going to win…

@justanotherfan said in THANK YOU, JAYHAWKS:

@Jethro said in THANK YOU, JAYHAWKS:

Welll…looky, cookie…NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! Thank you, guys for an incredible season. Sorry I doubted you after the TCU game. I think the team broke thru a barrier this year, and our coach broke thru a tournament barrier this year. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Coach win multiple championships from here on out. Just flat amazing!

This could do for Self what that first title did for Roy Williams at UNC. It got the monkey off his back and he was able to relax a little more, which allowed his teams to relax in March (and April, when it really counts).

I think Coach looked a hell of alot calmer than normal this tournament, and I think it translated to the guys. There were several games in the tournament we would’ve lost in the past that we managed to win this year.

@drgnslayr said in WE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:

@benshawks08

Dave took control of this game in the second half, and even before that in the locker room. The guys needed a leader to step up and it was Dave. His words, demeanor… energy… it stayed positive and determined! This really was his game! Started with that first smoke he had on Bacot. He seemed to always carry the energy level of this team. With his heart, his struggles… he may not be our most talented big of all times but he sure has earned his way into my heart and my greats list!

OMG…GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I was literally coming in to post the same exact thought ( although not as well-written as yours). The real leader of the team was Dave. The fact that he wanted to go against Bacot speaks volumes. This was way beyond Good Dave- this was Confident Dave. And Confident Dave is a BEAST. Confident Dave can pull down buildings with a single arm. CD can eat Jay Wright’s lunch anytime he wants. Just a massive Final Four performance.

Best thing I’ve seen all day:

@approxinfinity said in Reflections in the afterglow:

Been thinking about Remy and Self all day. What a beautiful thing for Self to recognize how much we needed Remy and to trust him and for Remy to deliver.

Remy was my Tournament MVP for us, followed closely by everyone else. Great team effort, but Remy was the star of the show. The only reason he didn’t go off on Villanova is because we were in control of the game, and he didn’t have to. We lose to Creighton and Prov w/o him. His offense in the national championship game is now legend. Give Dave the FF MOP ( or Ochai), but the 6 game MVP award goes to Remy hands down.

BTW, Big Dave was named B12 Scholar athlete of the year.

@BShark said in KU Twitter/Memes:

@FarmerJayhawk When you drink the entire pitcher of koolaid.

KU winning the National Championship has lil bro on full tilt. We’ll label this…item 1.

I think I can help with this DeJuan confusion. He’s not like Sherron. I was so glad when Sherron graduated. Love the guy- he’s true blue Jayhawk. But Approx and I both know speaking ill of Sherron is a major offense in Jayhawk Land. We know it triggers you, yet somehow we do slip up and blurt out a “lousy senior year” or something offensive to St. Sherron from time to time, so we offer our humble apologies. We still love THAT shot.

The comparison is Russ Rob. “The Lurker” ( a.k.a. JayhawkFantoo) pointed out that DeJuan and Russ are literally splitting images in everything, from the defense to the offensive game, and I agree with that. My opinion is DeJuan improves offensively enough to get to 10 per, and that is plenty, folks.

@drgnslayr Nijem is our superstar. How lucky we are to have him! We went from having the most worn out basketball team in college basketball to having one of the freshest teams since he took over. In my opinion, we won that national championship game in part because of our conditioning ( it also helped we had a deeper bench ). UNC was gassed at the end of the game, which allowed us to execute, while they floundered away. Go back and watch the tape of that game, and you’ll see Ramsey Nijem’s fingerprints all over that win. We just wore em out.

McCullar has 14 steals in his last 3 games. He’s turning out to be an amazing pick up.

I hate to interrupt the coaching clinic, but Mitch has a message:

https://twitter.com/Mitchlightfoot/status/1617746026240299010

Bad habits left over from the Tech game. JW + Juando = 52% of the total team shots. 9 for 30. No passing. All one on one. Joe took more shots than Gradey. The early clinching allowed us to cakewalk. We were walking zombies- no energy, no fire in the belly. Here’s the good news: these guys have bought themselves 4 days of pure hell from Bill. This terrible loss could be a springboard that reenergizes the team. Hopefully, we’re now through the personal accolades part of the season, and we can get back to playing together as a team. Maybe even pass the ball, and move without the ball, etc.

Conspiracy theory, eh? Nike sponsored hit job using their ESPN waterboys. This comes out as we are settling this case AT THIS MOMENT. F you, Nike. You too, ESPN.

National pulled pork day- let’s roast some Hawg today!!!

Harden looked a hell of a lot better. Joel did Joel things. Even though Philly lost, I was impressed with their newly found defensive intensity. I was hoping Embiid would stomp on Marcus Smart, even though I knew that wasn’t the purest of thoughts.

Well, the Rat is back trying to gnaw on opponent’s legs again. I guess he takes the title of US Coach from the Olympics to mean he is the only coach in America, which allows him to impart his rat wisdom onto the players his team faces. Here Mr. Thin Skin takes exception to a Georgia Tech player that threw him some shade: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/coach-ks-farewell-tour-mike-krzyzewski-exchanges-words-with-georgia-tech-star-in-blue-devils-victory/

Jacque Vaughn is now 24-8 since he took over as head coach of the Nets. I hope he leads them to an NBA title.

The biggest day of upsets of the season yesterday. 6 Top 25 teams went down.