Sunday, December 3, 2006

KU gets cold shoulder

Kansas blows late lead

By Gary Bedore

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ROSEMONT, ILL. — Bundled up in his heavy winter coat, a blue Kansas University stocking cap atop his head, Julian Wright trudged toward an Allstate Arena exit on a bitterly cold December Saturday here on the outskirts of Chicago.

Not exactly a Hallmark holiday moment for Wright, whose homecoming was not a happy one.

"As much as it was cool to come home, I wanted to leave here with a win," Wright, Kansas University's sophomore forward from Chicago, groaned after the No. 5 Jayhawks' 64-57 loss to unranked city school DePaul (3-4).

"It's disappointing we lost," he added of himself, fellow Chicago native Sherron Collins and the rest of the Jayhawks.

A loss appeared to be an impossibility with 14 minutes left, KU up by 14 points.

At that point, the Jayhawks led the then-hapless Blue Demons - a team that missed 14 straight shots and failed to score a basket in the final 8:40 of the first half - 37-23.

However, Sammy Mejia scored eight straight points in a 14-0 run that turned a 53-45 KU lead into a 59-53 deficit with just 1:23 to play.

"We were in the lead the majority of the game. Then we started to watch. We didn't keep our aggressiveness up," Wright said.

KU, in fact, went from 4:39 to :09 without a field goal.

That drought downed a KU team that had been on an emotional high since beating top-ranked Florida seven days ago in Las Vegas.

"Florida was good for us. It wasn't the thing that fixed everything," KU coach Bill Self said after his Jayhawks fell to 6-2 overall.

In fact, Tuesday's 83-32 rout of Dartmouth aside, the Jayhawks had shown some sorry signs since the Florida win.

"The last couple of days of practice have not been very intense," freshman center Darrell Arthur said after scoring 10 points with five rebounds in 28 minutes. "We didn't come out ready for this game. I don't think we're focused now. We'll get it back."

Self confirmed the team had not practiced well.

Photo Gallery

KU vs DePaul

"I don't think we've been on the right track since Florida," he said. "In order to get confidence, you have to do it daily. It comes through repetition. We still haven't got it through repetition yet. You have to come to work every day in practice, come to prepare. We are not a good practice team, yet.

"You can have great moments (like Florida) and not be a great practice team, but over time you usually end up playing like you practice."

Sophomore Brandon Rush, who had a horrid day (three points off 1-of-7 shooting in 34 minutes), did not notice a dropoff in the team's focus on Saturday.

"I thought we came out with the same intensity as we did against Florida," Rush said. "We were up 14, and thought we had the game sealed. They came back and hit some big shots at the end."

Rush said the Jayhawks may have relaxed playing with a big lead even though they knew DePaul of the Big East Conference was capable of rallying.

"Coach said they were a second-half team. He warned us over and over again they were a second-half team," Rush said. "It is very disappointing. Really not much to say more than that."

"Even in their losses they've been a second-half team. They came back (in losses) against Kentucky and Purdue," Self said. "We told the guys that."

KU, which came out playing stifling defense, led a low-scoring game, 26-17, at halftime. At that point, DePaul had hit just six of 23 shots (26.1 percent) to KU's 50-percent mark.

However, KU opened the second half with a Wright turnover, followed by a miss by Mario Chalmers and two by Rush, one being a layup.

Also, Russell Robinson and Wright missed connections for a turnover, and Arthur double-clutched and bricked a shot, KU finally scoring on a Wright basket 2 1/2 minutes into the half.

"We really didn't capitalize on them not playing well," Self said. "When they started playing well, they certainly took advantage of us playing poorly."

A turning point in retrospect came when KU's Robinson fouled Karron Clarke on a three-point attempt with 4:18 left, KU up 53-45. Clarke made all three free throws, and the Demons embarked on their 14-0 surge.

"It was a bad play by a veteran player," Self said. "I don't know if that was the key play. It sure seems it was the play where we lost momentum. We fouled a bad shot. Instead of having the ball up eight, we're up five. One play didn't beat us. Several hurt us. Still, it was a pretty big play."

Mejia, who Self once recruited, made three straight big plays during DePaul's game-stealing run. He had a pair of threes over Rush and a fadeaway 10-footer to give the Demons a five-point lead with less than two minutes to play.

"We had to keep their two big guys from having big halves," Self said of Mejia (23 points, 18 second half) and Wilson Chandler (12 points, nine second half). One had a huge half. We actually did an average job on Chandler, but a bad, bad job on Mejia. Sammy really controlled the second half. Also, foul problems helped them.

"All that said, if we would have taken advantage of our opportunities when we had the ball early in the second half we could have kept them at arm's length. We didn't do that."

The Jayhawks didn't help matters by running non-productive offense the final five minutes.

"We didn't execute our plays," Arthur said. "Everybody got a little bit lazy and relaxed at the end. We thought we had it won."

"We haven't been executing plays. We've been trying to do it on our own," noted Chalmers, who hit three of five threes and scored 15 points with two assists in 34 minutes. KU had 13 assists for the entire game.

In the final analysis, KU couldn't put away a foe that was down by 14 and on the verge of perhaps giving in.

"I don't think we had the killer instinct when we had 'em down," Chalmers said. "We needed to put them away."

Now it's back to practice today in preparation for Monday's 8 p.m. game against Southern California at Allen Fieldhouse.

"It hurts. We know we have to get better every day at practice. We have a lot of work to do," Wright said.

More buzz about KU's loss to DePaul

Comments

cobweb (anonymous) says...

Ridiculous.

December 3, 2006 at 3:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkaloogie (anonymous) says...

Maybe Self should do something about the poor practices.
I can think of so many other ways I'd rather spend 1.6 mil a year.

December 3, 2006 at 3:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justinryman (anonymous) says...

If you beat the #1 team in the land and get a 5 year extension what happens when you lose to 2 unranked opponents??? If the top guys are lacking itensity, bench them and get the scrubs out there to play hard for a few minutes, give a reality check to these pro-wannabes!!!!

December 3, 2006 at 6:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

remlap101 (anonymous) says...

Just show them the pictures. Obviously what they see in print has clouded their focus. When you have a whole team unfocused you play like a second tier team.

December 3, 2006 at 7:10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

BrainCase (anonymous) says...

I wonder how they'll react to the talk that the Jayhawks aren't even the best team in the state.

December 3, 2006 at 7:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mitch (anonymous) says...

Practice well, play well. Practice poorly, play poorly. This one's gonna hurt for a while. Good. No pain, no gain. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. The team will rebound from this very sad moment. The key is to learn from their mistakes. There is no dishonor in making mistakes; only in repeating them. Get stronger. Get smarter. Go 'Hawks!

December 3, 2006 at 8:06 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

biggunz (anonymous) says...

i sure hope you aren't implying that k-state is. wsu maybe.

December 3, 2006 at 8:10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Displayhawk (anonymous) says...

I have lowered my expectations for this season, mainly so I won't be let down so brutally in March like the last two years! We need guys who hate to lose, .....Not guys who don't like to lose, .....but guys like Rex Walters and Aaron Miles who absolutely HATE to lose! I thought Russell Robinson and Sherron Collins were those types of players, but I haven't seen it yet! Say all you want about Roy, but he always wanted players with "want to" and when Coach Self talks about wanting the team to be "tougher", he is talking more about mental toughness than physical toughness! Dee Brown almost took Illinois to a national championship because he was "tough" and absolutely HATED to lose!

December 3, 2006 at 8:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mcoan (anonymous) says...

I watched Roy Williams bench all 5 starters yesterday because they were doing poorly. Remember when he did that with KU? I miss that. It woke the prima donnas up. Self never does that.

December 3, 2006 at 8:28 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawks4life (anonymous) says...

that was pathetic. First of all I'm sick of hearing excusses from brandon, he needs to take his medicine, admit that he and his teamates played poorly, and step it up . Secondly, why is practice not good? that is pure coaching, if the players are showing lack of intensity then put players on the floor who are intense.

December 3, 2006 at 8:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

imagold (anonymous) says...

imadisappointed

December 3, 2006 at 8:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

OK, so here's how Coach Self gets the blame for his players' performance, even though he's not the one out there playing (an excuse my best friend always offers up for Self)

He's a great recruiter, hands down. There is an amount of talent in Lawrence that is unprecedented ... but, as the KC sports folks have brought up, there are no "glue guys" those that want to get in the trenches.

Bench the prima donnas, it is a whole team of them! All-America this, McDonalds that, All-State, All-World.

The team needs balance and chemistry ... I do not expect either as long as Self is in charge.

I again humbly submit my suggestion of Mark Turgeon as coach, his squad has gone into sec and Big East territory this season and come away with Ws ... and he doesn't have the marquee names, the program's tradition or the TV exposure. He's a Jayhawk and he's gotten results!!!

December 3, 2006 at 8:44 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

Hopefully this will end the rushing on the court crap...

December 3, 2006 at 9:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

once again let me point out that Roy Williams never won a championship at Kansas. His best teams were just as prone to flame out in the tourney. Roy Williams (and his style of ball) lost to Bill Self (and his style of ball)in the tournament. Please get off of the Roy Williams talk until someone can explain to me why Paul Pierce, Jaque Vaughn, Scott Pollard, Reaf Lafrentz, Nick Collison, Drew Gooden, Kirk Hienrich, Rex Walters, Jeff Boschee and countless others left here without a Championship. Many of those guys now (or have) Played Ball for a living. By the logic being spewn here I guess that makes Roy a terrible coach. Don't even get me started on the countless MC D's all americans Roy squandered.

December 3, 2006 at 10:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

But he still won a championship, just not here.

December 3, 2006 at 10:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

vwskywalk (anonymous) says...

That's cause 90% of the ignoramuses that post comments were in diapers when Pierce and Lafrentz were playing. I might point out how young we are, and the fact that experience counts for a lot. We don't have that much experience. We will by the end of conference play. Until then I'm afraid we will be at risk of the occasional upset. Personally, there is not another coach or group of players that I would rather have at Kansas. Period.

December 3, 2006 at 10:25 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

crimsoninracine (anonymous) says...

Young? Experience? Are you kidding? These players are neither young nor inexperienced! They are soft, plain and simple. And, soft players tend to get really psyched for the big game (i.e. Florida), but think the smaller teams will cower and run away when the mighty Jayhawks arrive. All you have to do is watch us play against lesser teams. Chalmers fouls and makes faces as if "I never foul; don't you know I'm an all-american"! Rush plays timid, usually making players on the other team look like all-americans. Wright doesn't show up because, after all, we're Kansas, so the opponent will fear us and be unable to play. We came out after half-time yesterday and played like that. We looked like we expected them to roll over and quit. Perhaps the saddest thing was the number of missed lay-ups. I don't know if they keep that statistic, but I'd have to think we missed at least 10 easy lay-ups. Let's see, that's 20 points down the tubes because we didn't put forth a serious effort. vwskywalk, I think you're right about conference play. We'll show up because those are big games. Unfortunately, no reason to think we'll show up for the 1st round game. For some reason, Self's KU teams haven't been able to take a mid-major seriously yet. And, we'll play one in the first round, which will mean another early exit. I'm liking that Turgeon idea more and more. He's got players playing like winners, not like all-americans!

December 3, 2006 at 10:40 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Nutflush21 (anonymous) says...

This act is getting old. Every time I get excited about Bill's teams they inevitably let me down. Ive been a Bill Self supporter since he was hired here. However, I can no longer do so. Time and time again he has proven to me that he cannot effectively coach a game. His tremendous ability to recruit is undeniable, unfortunately so is his inability to coach a game. There are no excuses for losing this game. KU cannot expect to score 57 points on the road and expect to compete much less win. As poorly as DePaul shot in the first half and the first 8 minutes of the second half, we should have been up 30. Instead we toiled around up 14 and once again failed to make any adjustments and couldnt put a team away. And that my Jayhawk faithfull, is all because of coaching.

Also, how this team chalked full of high school All-Americans allows Russell Robinson (nothing against him but he's not a scorer) to become are got-to player down the stretch is beyond me.

To conclude this post, it appears that this team will once again be knocked out early in the NCAA's because of our lack of a go-to scorer (coaching) and inability to put teams away (coaching).

December 3, 2006 at 10:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

Self's system requires "glue guys". Th eOSU half court offense is patient and consistent. 5 McD All-Starts don;t have enough consistency to play together on a regular basis! Self has to change his approach toget theis amount of talent to "gel". Luckily, the Big12 is not that strong and a good place to develop as a team.

December 3, 2006 at 10:54 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

chapdaddy (anonymous) says...

"But he still won a championship, just not here."

Yes, with Matt Doherty's players.............the "fixed the dinner, didn't get to eat it" analogy.

Get off Self's back, people. You all will be riding his jock in March.

December 3, 2006 at 10:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

So are you saying he didn't have talent here?

December 3, 2006 at 11:25 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

javier87 (anonymous) says...

If you all remember, Roy won with Matt Doherty's recruits. The team he inhereted at Carolina was already established.

December 3, 2006 at 11:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

b1afide (anonymous) says...

Makes me sick to read the comments by players (e.g. "we didn't practice hard", "we were lazy at the end", etc.). What the heck is that??? Could you guys just go out and play ball??? My 5th and 8th grade teams understand that or they SIT!

Mix it up Bill.

I honestly get the sense that these guys don't care deep down. Just a stepping stone.

December 3, 2006 at noon ( | suggest removal )

HillbillyHick (anonymous) says...

GIHAWK, your comment about rushing the court really makes no since and is actually completely backwards if you think about it!

December 3, 2006 at 12:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

HillbillyHick (anonymous) says...

since = sense

December 3, 2006 at 12:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

feefifofum (anonymous) says...

Competition in the state of Kansas is good for the Jayhawks. I hope these players and Bill Self will respond. But, if they don't - we might as well find out now. I hate to see KU lose -- but having Wichita State pass them in the ratings would be a good thing at this point.

We are not at this point yet, but the beginning of the end of Ted Owens was losing to WSU in the NCAA. We started losing recruits to Wichita State and we were getting out coached by Hartman at Kansas State.

That competition inside the state has been gone for a long time. Roy and his boys crushed it. Now Self and company need to rise up to the challenge - you better beleive that it is approaching.

Owens couldn't do it anymore and that brought in Larry Brown and everyone knows the rest of the story.

December 3, 2006 at 12:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lrahardja (anonymous) says...

True, Roy won with Doherty's highly recruited players (R Felton, R McCants, S May, M Williams were all 5 stars hs players). A year can make all the difference... they were mostly juniors when they won it all in 2005.

Obviously, our players have not shown the maturity and consistency it takes to get to the championship level, our players should consider staying another year.

December 3, 2006 at 12:50 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

wizbuc (anonymous) says...

Bill Self is a 20 win 10 loss guy so expect that. The softness in this team is unbeliveable. They need to think about KU not the NBA. One thing for sure this team makes it exciting to watch cause you just don't know what you are going to get each time out. Go Jayhawks!!!

December 3, 2006 at 1:05 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

tis4tim (anonymous) says...

I hate to mention a certain coach four years removed from our institution on this board...it's so old hat at this point. But...

to those of you who think you are panning this guy by saying he didn't win with his own players at UNC, you are actually inadvertenly praising him more than you realize.

If this guy's achievement should be lessened or dumbed down b/c the team was "established" and "he used someone else's players" then how come Doherty couldn't win with Doherty's players if it's all about the players? Seems to me if Doherty can't win with them but another guy can, that other guy should be viewed as a better coach than previously thought. It would also seem to support the argument that a coach does indeed have much to do with winning games.

This is not a vote to get rid of Self or an attempt to lobby for any other knee-jerk decision-making, but just an observation.

December 3, 2006 at 1:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

saad007 (anonymous) says...

I'm SICK of the HI-LOW offense!!!! It will ruin our basketball tradition which WAS all about "fun to watch" basketball.
For all those who bash the fans who criticize self: you are wrong! every fan has the right to voice his opinion. If a fan thinks that a coach or a coaching style is not right for his/her team, then he/she has every single right to say it!! What's wrong with sharing your opinion? what happened to freedom of speech??
Nobody has the right to question the loyalty of a fan because he/she is not happy with their team's coaching style. That's immature!!

December 3, 2006 at 1:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

BTW I believe the former coach Williams coached 18 or 19 Mc D all americans here and won 0 championships.
Guess it was fun to watch, but in the end what did we get out of it?

Does anyone else remember Roys wife buying him a stuffed monkey, and after they broke the streak of 3 straight years losing in the second round they broke it out at the press conference in San Antonio at the regionals "thank gosh we got this monkey off our backs". I guess that was pretty cute at the time.....until they lost the next game to Bill Self and Illinois.

December 3, 2006 at 2:25 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

Hillbilly Hick,
Did you mean I should have said "court the rushing"?

December 3, 2006 at 3:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

Self has more talent with this team than Roy had with his national championship team. And remember Roy took us to the title game without Simien.

December 3, 2006 at 3:22 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

Hillbilly Hick:
You sure live up to your name!

December 3, 2006 at 3:24 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

notabandwagonfan (anonymous) says...

Yea, you have your opinion. If you are a TRUE fan you will watch the team and have a good time doing it no mattere what system or coach. His system is ruining our tradition or our team. He recruited these players for his system. Kansas isn't your team, its Bill Self's team. You are just a fan. And not a loyal one i might add. Oh im sorry, i must be pretty immature for saying that.

December 3, 2006 at 3:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justdoit23 (anonymous) says...

Horribile!!! just Horrible!!

Okay i'm ready for not being ranked!!

i have request to the officials!!

Just un rank us!! please!!!

December 3, 2006 at 3:48 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

filmhawk (anonymous) says...

embarassing.

totally unacceptable on every level.

b-rush should take a seat at the end of the bench with brady and matt.

this team needs a LEADER!!!

December 3, 2006 at 3:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bristowhawk (anonymous) says...

Young? I'm tired of that excuse. The last time I compared. all the players on any team are in the same age group. Inexperienced? Another poor excuse. They should know what the game is by now.
Prima Donnas. Now that is an excuse that fits. These guys only bring what they think they need to win. Then don't know how to reach back and get a little more when they need it.
Bad practice, then they need to practice more and not waste the time reading th e press releases.

Always a Hawk!!!!! Just p!$$#d at the way these guys are playing.

December 3, 2006 at 4 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

GIHAWK, you must be a young one. I can tell you that the most talented team I think I have ever seen is the Hawks of 96-97. Did they win the title? NOPE! According to all of the geniuses here, it must have been poor coaching. How does a team go 32-1 and then get knocked out of the tourney in the 3rd round? By the way, the reason Kansas lost the title game in 03 was missed free throws. I guess that was the coaches fault also. Because Coach Self certainly gets critisized when the current Hawks miss free throws.

And for the other geniuses out there KU does not run the high-low. This team is built to run. The games that we look our best and perform the best are against teams that want to play an up tempo style. Most of the elite programs run the court, therefore we look better against them. The mid majors are generally senior laden teams that want to slow it down, run zones make it ugly stay close and try to pull it out in the end. Believe me KU is not the only victim of some of these teams.

Lastly, I am sure glad that the powers that be, you know, the ones that actually are paid to make decisions don't listen to the morons who want to fire the coach after every loss. The way you build a program is to be patient, get talent, run your program cleanly and act with class. I believe that Coach Self does them all. Can you imagine, if the AD's always fired someone because they didn't get it done early? Consider this; it took Dean Smith 21 years to win a national championship. Lute olsen 28, Roy Williams 17, Jim Behiem 23, Coack K 15, Bob night 11 and even the great John Wooden 18 years.
Where would all of these programs be if the AD had a knee jerk reaction after every game. Get over yourselves people.

December 3, 2006 at 4:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jsquared29 (anonymous) says...

We never used to do this, NEVER, 5 more years of this......... we should be dropped from the Top 25, make that the Top 50. Falling apart at the end of the game can't be blamed on the players. Coach needs to get his guys together and get some points. We do well against better teams it seems like but as we have all seen from the past 2 years of the NCAA tournament we don't usually play teams that can equal our talent in the first round. Loss to Oral Roberts (at home), Win against Florida, and Loss to DePaul. We've played 8 games and we already have 2 losses, both of them not coming from the biggest game of our season. we need a change!

December 3, 2006 at 4:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

That Pete Carrol must be a horrible coach. How is it possible that you lose not 1, but 2 games to unranked and inferior teams. He can't make mid game adjustments, get his players fired up to play, i mean my gosh this last game was to go to the national championship game, and they come out and lay an egg like that. it is completely the coaches fault that he didn't have his team fired up and ready to go. this is inexcuseble they must consider making a change right now. I don't care what he has done in the past, its all about now. Fire him and bring in a hot new coach. maybe someone like that Dan Hawkins, I mean every year his Boise state teams were ALMOST undefeated in that incredibly tuff conference they play in. I am sure he can get us over the hump. Oh wait, Colorado already tried that.

As silly as this sounds, this is what these posts sound like to me. Comepletly ridiculous.

December 3, 2006 at 4:31 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

cobweb (anonymous) says...

I hope you didn't learn how to spell at KU.

December 3, 2006 at 4:53 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

I made a few mistakes. fire me.

December 3, 2006 at 5:10 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

larkandtyler (anonymous) says...

Pete Carrol won some National Championships, if i'm not mistaken. What has Self done lately in the postseason? Our previous coach, who i will never call by name, is a traitor and choak artist (Rhode Island, etc.). However, at least we didn't lose 5 before conference season, and rarely one in November.

It doesn't matter anyway. Now that Oden is back for OSU, they are unstopable. Damn NBA rules. Unconsitutional!!!...and unfair for real college sports fans.

December 3, 2006 at 5:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jamestoo (anonymous) says...

put them on the end lines for a while and bet practices will change. bil's scare to make anyone mad.

December 3, 2006 at 5:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bluestem244 (anonymous) says...

Bill Self's comments about intensity and practice ethics reflect on his failings as much as the players.

December 3, 2006 at 5:32 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

Jayhawk 86,
I started watching KU basketball with Jo Jo White playing...So please don't lecture me about KU basketball

December 3, 2006 at 6:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

HillbillyHick (anonymous) says...

GIHAWK, if you have been watching basketball so long you would realize that the more a team wins the less they storm the court.

So, to say "I hope this ends the rushing the court crap" after losing a game is just plain Stupid!

December 3, 2006 at 6:34 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

leikness (anonymous) says...

I agree about the comments. Self is a yeller, not a motivator, he will never be able to get anything out of his players on a day to day basis. He's just an aw shucks kind of guy, complete lack of attention to detail. Just simply doesn't have the do things right for the sake of doing them right mentality that Roy had. It sickening. You can just see it on his face, he gets pissed, but he never gets fired up in a positive manner, he's not a leader.

Can anyone believe that Rush gets away with saying some of the stuff that he says to the media?

"We were up 14, and thought we had the game sealed."

Thought we had the game sealed? Is he serious? How do you say that? This guy needs to be put on a Michael Bishop like media quarantine. Is he really as dumb as he sounds in the paper?

Rush lost all credibility with me last year in Detroit. 1-hour after the game he's laughing and joking around in the lobby of the hotel, talking to chicks. The guy's a joke. Wanted to stay here because of the feeling after the loss last year, what a bunch of bull. Someone told him that he can't dribble or create his own shot and that he wasn't ready for the NBA.

And whoever said that Russell Robinson does not take it serious, c'mon. That guy has the biggest heart by far on this team, comparable with the Jacque Vaughns and Rex Walters of the world.

December 3, 2006 at 6:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

Hillbilly,
Yeah, so, whats your point genious?

December 3, 2006 at 7:47 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kennetha (anonymous) says...

We will learn these lessons the hard way. With bad play and a loss we should not have had.
Live and learn -- but don't let it happen again. We need experience and confidence.

December 3, 2006 at 7:50 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

GIHAWK (anonymous) says...

But for how much longer? I mean this crap has gone on way too much...

December 3, 2006 at 7:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jrbill67 (anonymous) says...

Self knows how to lose the little ones; let's hope we get a low seed in the NCAAs so we can upset a better team, and maybe, be lucky enough to play better teams throughout the tournament. Until this team gets a leader, it's street ball and street ball is unpredictable. Not until someone takes charge and gets in somebody's face will this team get to the next level. Until then, it's five soft players going through the motions, playing against kids that desperately want to win and willl do anything to win. You have to have desire and talent to win.

December 3, 2006 at 8:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

nveyt_truong (anonymous) says...

Have any potential coaches been contacted yet? I hope we don't have to wait until Apr. 3rd for the announcement. Heck, we'll be done playing on March 15 at the latest.

I think it's a good thing that the AD admits he made a mistake extending Self's contract and pay it off, so we can start moving on ASAP.

December 3, 2006 at 8:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUMatt2001 (anonymous) says...

Self knows how to succeed as the underdog- with tough, gritty play and a low posession game against a team with more talent. The question is, will he ever figure out how to manage a team with superior talent to win consistently? Roy came from from North Carolina, so he learned from Dean Smith how to run a top-caliber program- motivating blue chippers and game-coaching to exploit the weaknesses of less-talented teams. Will Self adapt and figure it out, or will he always be good for 7-10 losses a season the rest of his career?

December 3, 2006 at 8:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justdoit23 (anonymous) says...

wow!!!!!!!!!

Well said and done "Jayhawk86"
Cant agree with you any more than that about how long it took for all other coaches to get a title!!!

One of the best comment i have ever seen here overall!
Every buddy should Read what "Jayhawks86" said!

December 3, 2006 at 9:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

nveyt_truong (anonymous) says...

"A title"...that's really funny.

How about beating teams that aren't ranked!

How about winning even one game in the tournament!

"A title"...That's hilarious

December 3, 2006 at 10:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

notabandwagonfan (anonymous) says...

cry babies....we lose ONE game and everyone is on here crying like 2 year old infants that didnt get their way. Yea, we lost get over it. Florida got beat on the road tonight at Florida St. All of the $#!t talkers werent on here after last weekends game, but they sure came back with a force after yesterdays game. First of all, half of you bitches dont know what you are talking about. Secondly, the ones that do are the only ones who make any sense at all. And third, the ones who dont know know need to shut up because i feel dumber having read your posts.

December 3, 2006 at 10:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lalawguy (anonymous) says...

I am so disappointed with this team losing. With a 6-2 record, we must be the last place team in NCAA Division I!

I swear, if this team does not beat another national champion within the week, I will stop rooting for them until it gets to the Final Four in March!

Also, I am disappointed that Bill Self has not picked up a national championship during his three seasons at KU. We need somebody who has picked up more national championships, like Mark Turgeon at WSU! Oh, wait...

December 3, 2006 at 11:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

notabandwagonfan (anonymous) says...

And another thing, someone was talking about how dumb brandon rush sounds or something along those lines......we you sound just as dumb for saying the things you said. This kid is 19 years old. Give the kid a break. An Jayhawk86, couldn't have said it better myself. You really hit the nail on the head. Even if we did fire Self, who would come in here and do any better? Sure they might win a road game at DePaul or a home game against Oral Roberts, but look at the track record of the guy. Hes won everywhere hes been. Even here! First year elite 8. 2 conferece championships and a conference tournament championship. Won 76 % of his games. Yea, we definately need to get ourselves a new coach!!!!! Bull $#!t!!!!!!!

December 3, 2006 at 11:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

"Every buddy should Read ..." What grade are you in, third? Could "any buddy" really be that stupid?

December 3, 2006 at 11:13 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jared1426 (anonymous) says...

notabandwagonfan-
too bad brandon rush isn't 19 years old. he's in his 20's. get a clue.

December 3, 2006 at 11:15 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justdoit23 (anonymous) says...

nah!! Just took the mid term so officially in thrid and half grade!!

Thanks for your warmest gratitude though!!!

December 3, 2006 at 11:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justdoit23 (anonymous) says...

Should have Could have said something productive than correcting me!!

December 3, 2006 at 11:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

It is absolutely ridiculous to suggest firing Self. He has shown that he's a very good coach. The problem is that we got spoiled by the coach who has the best winning percentage in the country. There were VERY few games like this that KU's former coach ever lost, so we expect it to be like that with every coach.

KU is now similar to most of the other top teams in the country. We win most of our games but sometimes lose to teams that it makes no sense to lose to. Unfortunately, we are not right now at the level of a UNC or Duke, who almost never lose to unranked teams.

The most upsetting thing, though, is that the players continue to make the same comments about having a hard time being motivated. That is simply inexcusable. It is hard to believe that the same problem can happen over and over. Supposedly the ORU game was such a shock that it had a major impact on their psyches. Such an impact should last more than a few weeks.

I don't know what the answer is, but it is incredibly frustrating.

Finally, as to you idiots out there who continue to point out that KU's former coach never won a championship here, try to fathom for a moment how much luck goes into winning the NCAA tournament. There are injuries, foul trouble, an off-night shooting (including free throws -- see 2003), a hot night for the other team, bad calls, and more difficult matchups with some teams than others, among many other things that can happen. I'd say getting to four Final Fours and two championship games in 15 years is a DAMN fine record. Let's just hope Self can do that well.

December 3, 2006 at 11:22 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Should have Could have said something productive than correcting me!!

_________________________________________________________________

You're right. Some things are obviously pointless.

December 3, 2006 at 11:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kefreeze5 (anonymous) says...

march, march, march!!!
i could careless how many games we win or lose in the regular season. Seedings means nothing. What were we ranked in '88? We were ranked like 7 or 8. The only thing that matters is when we hit the NCAA tourney

December 3, 2006 at 11:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalkAZ (anonymous) says...

Jeez, people on here need to get over little spelling errors. Who cares if it's 'buddy' or 'body'. Some people worry more about sounding knowledgeable in hoops rather than making sure everything is spelled correctly and proper grammar is used. Crazy, I know, considering this is a KU basketball board. I'm just excited to see the Jayhawks back in action tomorrow night against USC. Should be a good game.

December 4, 2006 at 12:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

nanuq (anonymous) says...

Irony sure can be.....ironic? I like Bill Self, and I think the job he did with the kids last year was unbelievable. However, when Williams left (and I was not sorry to see him go Ted Owens), the best college coach available was......Lon Kruger, whose Illinois recruits went to the final four, coached by Self, and beat Kansas. Kansas passed (as far as I know) on Kruger, he's rebuilding UNLV, and K-State brings in Huggy Bear (let's officially make him Coach Fargas) in a desperate attempt to attract enough illiterate thugs to compete. Maybe you can't go home.

That said, I think Self will be fine. The team that beat Florida figured it out, and that team will show up more often as the season progresses. By the end of the season, freshmen will be sophs, sophs will be juniors and juniors will be seniors. The worm turns pretty fast in college basketball.

December 4, 2006 at 12:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

I only make the comparisons between Coach Self and Coach Williams to illustrate a point. People clamor for the good ol days with Roy, and in the same breath say that Coach Self could never win a championship here. I mean really, how silly is that. I am a Kansas fan thru and thru. I liked Roy, I love Self and will always support the program. give Bill 16 years and see what will happen. Instead of talking about the almost championships, we will be talking about the how many championships.

December 4, 2006 at 12:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

tomike (anonymous) says...

Somehow, old fans like GiHawk forgot Roy lost AZ several years ago. KU were up by about 20 after the first half, and still lost the game.... That was at AFH!!!

December 4, 2006 at 2:21 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

97jhawk (anonymous) says...

I'm just curious to know if anyone can tell me if this type of ranting against Coach Self was present during Roy's first few years. I know there weren't outlets like these for people to voice opinions, but I am curious to know if certains doubts and skepticism were rampant when Roy was here after Coach Brown. I've only been following the 'Hawks since I had started college at KU back in '93. I'm of course graduated now, but am wondering what it will take to make believers out of us the fans.

December 4, 2006 at 11:13 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jcsmith (anonymous) says...

Quote from 97jhawk: but am wondering what it will take to make believers out of us the fans.

There will never be 100% believers. Just like everything else in life, some people just have to b!tch. It's just the way humans are. Even if we come home in March with a NCAA title, I'm sure you will still read peoples comments on how bad they feel a certain player may have played, or how they disagree with certain aspects of the game. In the end their words will be, "Oh well, a wins a win.".

The only people who are true believers are those who accept the loses, along with the wins. No matter how well rated a team is, no matter how much talent a player has, it is a perfectly natural act to have an off night, make mistakes. Unfortunately being a person of interest in the eyes of many fans, if you make a mistake, you're a screw up. If you lose, well then obviously something is broken. That's not the way it is. Unfortunately that's they way some people think.

If you are a true believer, you will stand by your team. Ups and downs, 1st rounds and out, you will stand by them. A true believer not only is a fan, but they build a mental relationship with the team. They kinda become what feels to be part of your family. You cheer them on even when they are 1/13 on the night. You support them when they beat the #1 team in the nation, yet you support them when they fall, from a 14 point lead, to "depaul who?"

All of you have someone in your life that you just love dearly, I'm sure. Someone, that no matter what mistakes they've made, you will always be there to support them. You would never disown them for any reason nor suggest possible repercussions for any of their mistakes. Well that's the type of relationship a true believer has with his team. Nothing, nothing will detour his belief in his team. Then and only then will a person experience the true meaning of being a fan. Then and only then will a person understand what it is to be a "Believer."

December 4, 2006 at 11:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Vinny_Vin (anonymous) says...

Poor Practices. How as a D1 coach making over a million dollars a year do you have poor practices? It's your job to make sure that every single time they come out on the floor whether in practice or a game, they are giving 110% effort. If they don't, they don't play. Or you can always run their butts to death. That used to get things turned around real fast back in my day. If your players aren't responding, run their tongues out of their mouths. And don't dare send them to the locker room after that. You make them shoot free-throws. Not like we couldn't use improvement in that department!! Coaching Fundamentals 101 Bill.

December 4, 2006 at 3:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

saad007 (anonymous) says...

amen brother "Vinny_vin"! I couldn't agree more!

December 4, 2006 at 4:29 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jcsmith (anonymous) says...

Nice post Vinny. I agree. That could be one area for improvement. I recall the same as you. Screw up in practice, hit the base line for suicides. Over and over and over again until we got it right several times, not just once.

Practice like you play gentlemen. There should never be a light day in your college career. If you want to make it to the NBA, you have to prepare like your are going to the NBA. So never settle for less. That will only get you average.

December 4, 2006 at 6:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justdoit23 (anonymous) says...

copy cat!!

December 4, 2006 at 8:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )