@jaybate-1.0 This website has become much more than a basketball blog. We’ve sometimes acted like a disjointed family at Thanksgiving with the disgruntled Uncles railing at the Whippersnappers with fierce arguments about Fools gold, Jamari, Morningstar, Diallo, and coaching faux pas. Everyone has an opinion. Many times, to our amazement, our attitudes change as we talk about young men, many just young teens. Our glory days our over.

If you stay with this site long enough, you somehow end up with some great friends that have become buddies from all parts of the world. We learn about their families, their “good times” in regard to their connection to KU. Some of us go back a long time. For myself, I proudly display my avatar of the first JoJo.

What I realized last night with @rockchalkintexas was an unexpected feeling of grief, similar to the sadness one feels when a close friend loses a loved one. Thank you @approxinfinity for giving me and many others this family. @rockchalkintexas, I want you to be here at least as long as I can stay.

I miss Jaybate. No one loved the Jayhawks and Self more. He would wax eloquently and put words to what we all love most about basketball. I didn’t leave the Jayawks, but I understand the pain and anger of why he walked away. I still watch. I watched as we beat Tennessee, Michigan State, Villanova. I watched as Doke went down, I watched when Silvio was removed, I watched Self, as his last nerve was snapped by Vick. I watched with trepidation as our top superstar recruit see’s less and less floor time. I saw the strain that Self has gone through. Then I watched magic happen at TCU. The locker room exploding in Joy and Coach doing his happy dance with them. I watched as 4 Freshmen Started and Self began to re-discover the reason why he coaches. For the last 14 years, we are right where we have always been. I now care about it all. Allen Field House is crazier than it has ever been…but I miss Jaybate.

Little bit of the Globetrotter look in the Uni’s.

I don’t have the tickets that @crimsonorblue22 had for this game so I thought I would present to those at the game the views that we get at home on a rainy Saturday in front of our TV’s. Perry had a great game.

Bruce did not

A new spin on the old spin move.

Wayne had for blocks

AL Champs in the House.

Block # 4 for Wayne

One week from tomorrow, Bill Self will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Many of us on this site have been discussing and cussing for many years. Many of our discussion took place on the KU Sport website years before aproxinfinity gave us a plush lounge to kick back to give our opinions on our beloved Jayhawks. Some of us, like myself, respond to losses and painful moments with a resigned sadness and some of us get mad and blame the coach. Many have blamed the coach for the bad times. He gets paid a lot of money and has always accepted the blame in the post game news conference. There was a period before the NC and a period after the NC that some were calling for a new coach. Many, would start their comments with the phrase, “I don’t think Coach should step down but,”. Many of the old timers are still here, and some of them have just decided that Self is a pretty damn good coach.

We have seen death spirals at other schools when coaching changes have been made. Yet, some of our bloggers say that the conference winning streak has been a bad thing. Many people think Coach leaves his starter’s in too long. Some people think his pre-season scheduling is too tough. Lots of people moan because Kansas can’t get 5 first round draft picks like Kentucky. Some people think he plays the wrong players for too many minutes. Some people were apoplectic that Traylor and Morningstar were starters. I myself thought Brannen Green played too many minutes. Many thought that is was poor coaching that led to the overall failure of Diallo, Alexander, and Selby.

Jayhawks are highly educated basketball fans. We love beating Duke, UNC and Kentucky during the season. We bought every hat, shirt and DVD when we won the National Championship but we were almost a tad bit prouder two years later of the Team that lost the National Championship with players like Conner Teahan playing significant minutes.

I, for one, will be very proud when Larry Brown presents KU Coach Bill Self for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Why does Mizzou want to play us again? They did just get the best recruiting class in football today with the number 1 defensive tackle choosing MU.

NBC Sports puts him where he belongs.

http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/05/25/nbc-sports-2017-18-college-basketball-preseason-all-american-team/

How Greene was guarded.

There can be no response to any fight baiting. Another punishment like the last time could wreck the Tourney chances. If you get knocked down or slugged, get up and, ignore the taunt and play basketball. If they want to steal the ball with 10 seconds on the clock and go for a dunk,- let them. Let the sports shows make fun of their player like they did with the idiot from Monmouth that did the same thing at the Phogg.