Best posts made by KUSTEVE

You guys are forgetting his badball takes. Those were the best of his career. Some people here wanted to fact check a novelist, without seeing the beauty of the prose.

Let me tell you a story of two universities, both with great traditions and history.

Kansas was literally fighting to get NCAA bids. We had .500 seasons. Kansas St was better than us; same with Misery. We had a brief respite where we actually won a rare national championship with Larry Brown …but then he left. And they hired a rookie head basketball coach named Roy who did a phenomenal job as coach, and except for his chicken salad exit, saved our program. Him and Brown. And then Self comes along, and just starts winning every damn Big 12 conference title, wins a national championship…keeps us relevant on the national stage. So, three coaches …Brown, Williams, and Self have truly, honestly saved our program from a far worse fate. A fate like this:

IU, on the other hand, lost Bobby Knight, and have been turning over coaches for years. Crean is currently 125-113, and they all hate his guts, and hope he gets fired. It will be a huge accomplishment if IU even makes the tournament, as they have looked plain awful on more than one occasion this year. They’re going to have to pull the plug on Crean at some point, and start all over again. I think it is relevant and important to understand what an amazing ride its been since Larry Brown first accepted the job. At the time, I couldn’t believe we could get a coach like Larry Brown. So, maybe I’m saying I remember when we sucked, and we don’t suck. I’m saying we’re ranked 2nd in the freaking country- it’s ok to crack a smile. Its ok to beat a bad team by 6-we still won. Enjoy this …it is historical…

I like his gumption. I like the fact he looks like he is 15 years old. People are going to think he’s a candy ass marshmallow, when in reality, he’s a bad mamba jamba. I remember him completely flattening JJ in preseason. That tipin in the WVU game, when he was surrounded by 2 Hillbillies, was a work of art. When he grabs a rebound, he snaps it down with authority with both hands. We could be in a whole lot worse shape, imo. Let’s rally behind the kid, and get him over the finish line. RCJHGKU!

I wasn’t surprised we won- I expected it.

My tweet to Dickitch:

It was nice to see Dan Dickitch come to AFH for our game tonight. It’s not often we get a mid-major announcer to call our games…Walton is stoned…what’s your excuse?

So, what happened yesterday?

• The record for consecutive conference championships had been UCLA’s for 39 years, until we broke that streak yesterday.

• Breaking that record took 14 years, with 14 different teams, with many different players.

• This record belongs to the teams that went onto play for the national championship, as well as the teams that left the NCAA tournament early. This includes a national championship, as well as a national runner up.

• The teams included a slew of all- B12 players, B12 players of the year, and one National player of the year.

• This year’s team did not “set the record”, they simply finished what was started 14 years ago. Every KU player, past and present, that is walking around with a B12 conference championship ring contributed to this streak. This victory is as much a victory for DG, Svi, and the gang, as it is to Mario, Sherron, and Shady, and TRob, and Wayne, and Perry, Frank, and Tyshawn, and JJ, and Joel, and Brandon, and all the rest.

• The one constant in the whole equation has been an Okie that loves KU with all his heart and soul, that has brought a passion for excellence to our amazing program. And that is our Hall Of Fame head coach…Bill Self.

We have practically no depth. We have guys that, if they are drafted, are probably 2nd round. We have defensive issues, a guy that can’t miss from the field, and can’t make a free throw to save his life. We have a guy that openly skulks that might be our most athletic player. We have a former top 5 player who is highly inconsistent, who makes bonehead plays at times that rival some of Tyshawn’s worst plays. We have a PG who might be one of the best shooters we’ve ever had who doesn’t shoot at times. We have a tall white guy who is slow on his feet, can shoot the lights out at times, who disappears at times, and although has made improvements, will never make the all defensive team. We have a tomahawk shotblocking shorty as a backup big, who can’t seem to stop running over people on the court.

And I love them.

They play with a chip on their shoulder, they rarely blow anybody out, but they do enough to win. I’m sure no one is intimidated by them ( other than Doke), and I think they’ve managed to formulate an underdog mentality, which is real hard to do when you play for KU. Everybody and their dog will be expecting this team to get run off the court in the NCAA tournament. And, for some strange reason, I’m thinking this team goes farther than last year, farther than the year before. I think we could see this team play for a national championship. Yes, Devonte …you can do something that Frank couldn’t do … you can get us a national title.

This is the masterpiece. This is the Mona Lisa…the Sistine Chapel. This is his best coaching year ever …so far. This punches that HOF ticket. Now, put the cherry on top. Get us another banner. If there ever was a year to do that, with no power house unbeatable teams, this would be that year. RCJHGKU.

“It’s frustrating,” Williams said. “We lost our composure toward the end. Tough plays down the stretch. They out-toughed us toward the end. They did a good job. They did what they wanted to and executed what they wanted to get.”

The soft label is now gone. That was a big boy win. It was grinding, and everything was tough, but we flat took that game away. So, game 1, we play like dog crap the first half, but then we go on an truly elite 22-0 run to start the 2nd half. Game 2, we play in a WWE steel cage match event, and go 15 rounds, before putting away a Top 5 team. We won a toughness contest against a tough team. Elite mentality. They can talk about Dook and the Zags all they want- we’ve got something special cooking here.

@5541-james He doesn’t want to go to WSU - going to WSU causes DUIs…

1- The cancer turned out to be benign.

2- Carlton took his bong with him when he left.

3- Waldo found LeGerald Vick, and it really paid off.

4- Newman sent Svi some flowers for Valentines day. Hopefully, they didn’t kiss when they made up.

5-The only “magic” at Hilton was the Vick resurrection.

6- Our Hall Of Fame Coach came to his senses and started Vick and Newman.

@drgnslayr I say we name one of our exits after him.

Beautiful news…

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article204727724.html#navlink=SecList

It was a great year for us. The achilles heel of the team was always perimeter defense ( Jesse Newell had a great article about it a month or two ago). It reared it’s ugly head in the Final Four against a great Villanova team, and so our journey ends. This might be the most flawed team we’ve had in years, but they managed to win the B12 regular season for the 14th straight year, win the conference tournament, and make it to the Final Four. This might be the best coaching job ever by Bill. He certainly earned his Hall Of Fame credentials this year. It will be sad to see Devonte, Svi, and probably Newman go, but our cup will run over next year with talent. Our front line next year will be HUGE. We will have several promising players coming in to help us on the perimeter. I will guarantee you we will be a much better defensive team next year, as the Lawson brothers, Dotson and company can really get after it on the defensive end. So, once again, thank you Jayhawks for giving us the gift that keeps giving every year.

Jethro

@ralster Landen looked much better yesterday. He finally looks healthy. Don’t close the book on him- I predict within two weeks, we’ll all be singing his praises.

@Crimsonorblue22 They attach the rape story because they have a narrative. Did you notice when Carlton Bragg got busted for the bong?, they all brought up…word for word…that the woman in question was CB’s “girlfriend”. now, that was disproven the last time they ran the story, more than a month ago. She wasn’t his girlfriend, period. No explanation that he was exonerated completely is ever found, so they are laying an anti-KU narrative case out. Notice that magically, an incident concerning LV from 2 YEARS AGO suddenly becomes page 1 news. A case that never warranted even calling the police just all of a sudden gets dumped at the same moment in order to bury KU. This is a bunch of bulls***, trumped up crap. imo. A kid has a bong, maybe a pipe…maybe some zigzags ( if they still sell them), gets caught…gets immediately enrolled in a rudimentary diversion program, and the Fishwrap gleefully exaggerates both a rape that none of our players were a part of, and an incident where our player was wrongfully accused. Baloney…what ever pencil dick at the Star that has the huge grudge against KU can kiss our butts. Sorry, I have reached my 212 degree limit on this.

The one and done conundrum. Solved. How to sign 5 star talent when you have no minutes to spare… no room at the inn. How in the world was Bill was supposed to bring in a 5 star guard when Frank and Devonte were starters etched in stone, and the trio of JJ, Svi, and Vick guaranteed the 5 star would have almost no playing time available??? To make the situation favor us even more, let’s have the 5 star guard practice in our system for an entire year without taking away a second from our other players, so he’ll be ready when Frank graduates. Now we have a 5 star guard going into his 3rd year of college ball, with a year of experience in our system. Brilliant!

The 5 Star Transfer eliminates the freshman learning curve- it allows the 5 star to ease into the system with confidence and poise. The year layoff builds a burning competitive fire where they feel compelled to prove to themselves they can still be great. The simple taking away a year of play in games that count drives the 5 Star to visualize what they want to achieve when they do get to play. The season becomes more valuable. Each game becomes a treasured treat, because you finally get to play.

So, the Newman signing could have as much impact as the JJ signing.

Now, here’s the Rubiks Cube part …

What if we lost all 5 starters? We’ve done that before…remember 2013? How did all those freshmen look ? Well, DG and Svi are gone. Newman’s gone. Preston could be gone. Doke, too. Maybe Vick. So, we are going to simply have to rebuild, right? No experience means no ring. No Final Four. No 2nd weekend. We don’t really have any playing time this year to train a whole new team, so our Rubik’s cube is mucked up. The colors are not lining up, and it looks like for the first time in Bill’s career, he will truly have to start from scratch. How can we magically impart experience to a team that has no experience?

THE TRANSFER STACK:

Sign 3 transfers…3 starters who can take a full year to learn our system. 3 Amigos going into their 3rd year of college. Instant experience added. One potential Big 12 POY, one potential poor man’s Frank Mason, and one potential Big 12 all defensive team. Experience out the wazoo. 3 players chomping at the bit to play in a game that means something after a long layoff. The colors line up. The Rubik’s Cube is solved. The transfer stack is born.

"Which brings us to Mitch Lightfoot and Marcus Garrett. Um, these two proved not ready for prime time."

I think it was a one-off. The most complex zone in college basketball. The same thing could be said about Newman, who looked awful. Exotic defenses do that to players. Look at the first 10 minutes of the game- even DG looked tentative. This is the tallest team in America. Like Devonte said in post game- it is one thing to practice against a zone, and quite another to face it in real time. By a weird scheduling quirk, our next game is against Boeheim’s long term assistant, who runs the same 2/3 zone. I expect we’ll see better performances from Garret, Lightfoot, and Newman because it won’t be as big of surprise this time.

@Jayballer54 We’re 18-5. We’re tied for the lead in the B12, and will still be ranked in the Top 12. It’s as close to a rebuilding year as we have had. Last year, one of our fans suggested that we fire Self, and hire Mark Turgeon. So, it’s not like they have an IQ test to become a fan.

We can have both. We can have the national record for consecutive tournament appearances, consecutive conference championships, and still win the national championship. The “would you give up our history for the bright shiny banner” question is irrelevant. Would we all LOVE to win a national championship? YES. Roy Williams made 4 Final Fours and won nothing. Zip. Nada. In 30 years, we’ve won it twice. I am more than ready for the next one. I want Malik Newman to do a Kemba Walker. I want De Sousa and Doke to pull a twin towers routine. I want Devonte to do a Mario Chalmers, and Svi to hit a shot like Sherron. I want Vick to do a Brandon Rush imitation, and Garrett to give us some Russ Rob. I want Lightfoot to pretend he is Cole Aldrich, and give us 12 great minutes against some overhyped ACC opponent.

The other day, a friend of mine who is a Gonzaga fan ( yes, they have fans ), was crowing that they had made the NCAA tourney for the 20th consecutive time. I told him big whoop.

I don’t want to be anybody but Kansas. I remember a time when they said Roy couldn’t win the big one. I remember when Coach K went through a real dry spell. Our time will come. There will be a time when the entire college basketball world will all want us to lose because we’re just too good. Once Bill overcomes the Elite 8, and he will, we’re going to win multiple national titles.

@Blown I fill out the brackets according to what I want to happen instead of what I guess could happen. I will tell you this - as long as it has Kansas active in the bracket, then it is a perfect bracket in my books.

@RockChalkChamps God, I love your post. We have been blessed with a world class organization that puts out an amazing product year after year. Now, these last two years have been quite tough according to the standards that Coach Self has set in the past. We’re used to being a number 1 seed, with 30 wins under our belt, so we have been in rebuild mode, at least for us. The great news is almost the entire team will be back next year. A healthy Perry, a healthy Frank, and hopefully, some additional size to help us do what we do so well.

I don’t have much patience for ingrates. I apologize, but when people wish that players on our team would leave, I’m going to react every time. We have the privilege of supporting the best college basketball program in the history of the sport - it doesn’t mean we’re going to win every game, every time. If you don’t have the ability to see the good in our team, maybe being a true fan isn’t for you. It is shocking for me to see some of our “fans” call for Bill Self to be fired. To me, that isn’t being a fan…that’s being a critic, and your lust to win has exceeded your intelligence.

4 DAYS UNTIL TIPOFF. I LOVE the smell of a national championship in the morning…

We’ve had lots of games over the years where we’ve lost winnable games right before conference began. right at the Holidays. Remember the 20 point debacle at Temple? What about the mind numbing loss to San Diego State a few years back? The first half had all the same elements…the team looked like zombies, blowing a double digit lead, and letting a pretty good mid-major team work them over. Then it changed, the lightbulb came on, the defense was flat dominating, and the game was suddenly over. Clearly. Bye, Felicia. We just ate them alive. And that’s why I think this team can win the national championship. We can change the whole game with our defense. Jack Gibbs joins the Grayson Allen club of big time guards who got their ass kicked playing us.

Other than maybe xmas, today is that day. It floats my boat. Bring on the madness.

If Misery wants to play us, then I suggest they win some games, and the NCAA tournament committee will oblige. Of course, having Cuonzo as coach is no guarantee that will happen, no matter who they sign. Whoever we play on our schedule is blessed- we are one of the greatest attractions in America. We sell tickets where ever we go. Misery coming to town would generate the same number of tickets sold in AFH as if we were playing Siena, or UNC Ashville. So, we wouldn’t make a dime off playing that rinky dink team with their horrible fan base. Of course, our players are missing out on the joy of playing in an arena where batteries are thrown at them, and racial taunts are SOP. They chose to end the rivalry, and we have now replaced them with an annual game with the team that regularly whips their ass, and wins their conference ( 'Tucky ). I would personally rather play the SEC conference champ than the doormat.

@approxinfinity I guess you could say he will do little for awhile.

In other news, D’Aaron Fox hurt his ankle, so BIFM kicked butt last night. He had 16 points in 22 minutes. Nice…

Man, now that is BEAUTIFUL. A whole bunch of Dook fans are walking around with Malik Newman t-shirts.

@Woodrow This isn’t a fascist website, like Fakebook, Youtube and Twitter. We don’t delete differing opinions on Buckets. We allow practically every knee jerk reaction you could imagine, from fools naming Malik Newman as a cancer on the team to calling our coach a whole litany of names over the years. Maybe this time they’ll put their money where their sanctimonious mouth is, and decide they are just too good to a KU fan. We can all dream, can’t we?

@RedRooster Upvote for the Rooster because …he’s the prolific upvoter, and he always makes my day with his upvotes…good on you, Mr. Rooster.

@drgnslayr Doogie Snotlieb, the OSU buttboy. Your jealousy is so transparent, Doogie. They invented a word for guys like him…dickweasel…

Coach dropped a bomb, a beautiful bomb on us last night:

On Wayne Selden, Jr., playing with more confidence: "Wayne was our second handler the year before where now we are playing him as our third handler, so he doesn’t have to be on the ball or do some things he had to do before. If he was in with (Andrew) Wiggins or (Kelly) Oubre (Jr.) he doesn’t go to the offensive glass nine out of 10 times, he’s got to get back for balance. When he is in with Frank or Nic it adds something to his game because he can become the offensive rebounder. Things like that will help him moving forward."

Devonte, Frank, Wayne, Perry, Diallo. This is huge news…and great news…

@Lulufulu The last two years in the NCAA, I thought our team looked worn out. The WUG is a pretty grueling affair- you could say this is Boot Camp.

We played scared…frantic. Our shots were hurried…our perimeter defense sucked. This group of guys has never handled defensive pressure very well, imo. We lost a game we should’ve won. So what? We play TCU Saturday, then the Pokies, Tea Sippers, Clones, then the dreaded Mildcats. We can’t do anything about losing to the Hillbillies except put our best foot forward, come ready to play every game, and execute the way we know this team is capable of playing.

@Crimsonorblue22 No, I was a perfect little angel. I never went to the Hawk ( especially on Friday afternoon), never drank schooners, never went to Ichabod’s Monday night Drink and Drown night, or anything of the sort. I was never at Jayhawk Towers when Darnell Valentine happened to use the elevator and 3 or 4 BIg KU fans, completely wasted fans by the way, happened to get on the same elevator, and proceeded to completely freak out Darnell Valentine, who couldn’t wait to get off the elevator. No, that wasn’t me.

Dook…smoked. Tarholes …smoked. Virginia…smoked. SO, I GOT WHAT I WANTED FOR XMAS!!! It’s better than a RED RYDER BB GUN!!! Thank you, Santa!

@bskeet Our kryptonite is playing tight in the tourney, I hope we are loose as a goose. The enemy isn’t who we play - the enemy is ourselves.

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2017/may/16/jayhawks-will-go-far-udoka-azubuike-can-take-them/

Keegan wails away, bemoaning the loss of Frank, and JJ. He’s right about them not being duplicated. Perhaps he is simply trying to let us down now because he doesn’t see what I see. He boldly asserts we won’t be top 5, and I couldn’t disagree more. His premise that our season hinges on Doke steadfastly refuses to see the way we’ve played the past two years. Hi Lo or no go, if you will. We’re a combo team. We can play big, grind it down, or play 4 out. Tell me you mixed up Vick and JJ at times going to the basket like I did at times last year. “That was JJ…nope, it was Vick” happened to me on several occasions. And topline talent? Newman is a 5 star guy going into his 3rd year. Preston is a beast. I like our chances.

Welcome back, Udunka!

We are very lucky to have a coach like Bill Self. I remember having that feeling that Roy could never replace Larry after he took over the program, and I felt the same way when Bill replaced Roy. But they both did amazing, and we have been on a great streak for a long time.

Here’s a good example of a humble man:

“The Lord has blessed me and my family beyond measure,” Self said. " There is no way an average player from Oklahoma would be standing before you tonight if his handprint wasn’t all over my life. I will never take this honor for granted, and I will be more humble now than ever to occupy an office on Naismith Drive."

We gained tremendously. This was 'Tucky prep. Tucky prep is very important. They will be our highest rated opponent- it is essential we win that game. We played someone that challenged us. Absolutely, we have way more to lose- which is why it was important we answered the challenge. Anytime you take on an inferior opponent, the pressure is always on the favorite. You view challenging the team as a bad thing - I look at it as a positive thing.

We have only won the last year and a half by outscoring teams. It looks very pretty, but when our shots don’t fall, we get waxed. I think we need the ability to control the boards better. I also think having that 2nd big in the lineup could open up driving lanes for Vick and Svi to the basket. Maybe it would allow us to get out on defense, and trap the ball, knowing we have two big guys at the rim for protection. Neither the 4 out or the 3/2 is the perfect answer, but having the ability to do both could be the perfect answer.

@mayjay We’re going to manhandle their guards. We’re going to score a nice amount on transition offense because Dook is very slow. We’re going to lob them to death. We’re going to win this game.

@jayballer73 I saw my chatlife flash before my eyes.

I like the Dook worship by ESPN because it’s always juicy when they get punked.

@BShark I saw a glimpse of an elite team today. I saw a pulse. 22-0 run was epic, just completely took away the game from Marquette. Flattened them. That was a run from an elite team. Now, let’s do this an entire game.

It’s refreshing to not have the announcer talk about “how to beat Kansas” the whole game. I haven’t seen 1 Dook or Tucky reference, either.

Ok, I’m out of hibernation. My apologies to HEM for some reckless comments I made last year during the heat of the battle. I will try to do better. Thank you to BShark for just being him, and keeping us up to date with the recruiting battles. I guess you can take me off the lost and found list. I’m glad you were wrong about Enaruna. I like his rim protection as much as anything. The fact that he’s from the Netherlands normally means high fundamental Euro skills - he seems to be quite talented with the ball, with a REALLY sweet 3 point shot.Teams are going to play hell driving the ball to the rim with Doke and Tristan covering the rim. I like this dude. We manage to bring in Hampton, and get Dotson back, and we could make a serious run for the roses next year. Beautiful get.

@wissox He is actually related to Jon Phillip Sousa, so him and Billy Preston will lead us to a melody of wins.

@HighEliteMajor Good analysis. Frank wasn’t close to being 100%. Not trying to make excuses for him, but he made some nice plays to somewhat make up for his Tyshawn moments. Epiphany game for Brannen, imo. You can’t teach that kind of confidence - we were absolutely brutalized ALL game by some of the worst uncalled fouls I have ever seen in a basketball game, and Greene absolutely tore them a new one. Shoved it in their face and made them like it. We need a tough SOB that doesn’t take crap, and I think he’s our man. I think we have a tough team, folks. Agree that Devonte played really well, and was glad to see Kelly finally get into the flow. My apologies to Jaybate - I had promised a 7 or 8 point win, and that 3 point bank shot miracle cut our win margin down to 5. Dang it, I was hoping I would hit it on the nose, my friend.