Stop and go: Defensive stand puts KU in semis

Kansas forward Mario Little hangs for a bucket and a foul against the Oklahoma State defense late in the second half on Thursday, March 10, 2011, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Little converted the free throw, which ultimately proved to be enough to give the Jayhawks the victory.

KU vs. Oklahoma State

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Kansas freshman Josh Selby focused on team goals during recent struggles

Oklahoma State’s Marshall Moses: Fifth foul a ‘terrible call’

Marcus Morris plays like Player of Year

KU wanted ’Cats, but CU will do

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KU vs. Oklahoma State

Kansas defeated Oklahoma State 63-62 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

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KU vs. Oklahoma State

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KU fans watch the Jayhawks take on the Cowboys at Power & Light District in Kansas City

With the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Jayhawk fans crowded into the Power & Light district for its Fan Fest. The game was broadcast on multiple TVs and many of the nearby bars opened early.

Kansas City, Mo. — Kansas University’s No. 2-ranked basketball team confronted a harsh reality while huddling during a timeout with 20 seconds left in Thursday’s Big 12 tournament quarterfinal nail-biter against Oklahoma State in Sprint Center.

“We weren’t scared. We knew we had to get a stop or we were going back to Lawrence,” KU senior guard/forward Mario Little said.

Not wanting to pack his belongings somberly and move out of the Downtown Marriott two days early, Little stuck a hand in the face of OSU’s Jean-Paul Olukemi, who missed a deep three at the buzzer, assuring KU a 63-62 victory.

“We always practice like that, where we’ve got to get a stop,” Little said. “Sometimes we’re down seven (points) in practice with a minute left. We’ve got to grind it out.”

Brady Morningstar hoisted a desperation airball as the shot clock expired on KU’s final possession at :20, putting the Jayhawks (30-2) in the scary position of having to clamp down on defense or suffer a shocking loss — and likely two days of grueling, soul-searching practices — leading into Selection Sunday.

“Over the years, we’ve been in that situation quite often. And I’ve never been one to hope for things or wish for things or anything like that, but I admit I was praying a little bit,” KU coach Bill Self said of his feelings as Olukemi released.

The Jayhawks, who had an awful day offensively in missing 20 of 25 three-pointers, did everything right defensively the last time OSU (19-13) had the ball.

Point guard Elijah Johnson shadowed OSU guard Keiton Page (23 points), making point guard Reger Dowell turn to Olukemi, whose buzzer-beating shot was short and off the mark.

It had no chance.

“Fortunately, I think Dowell kind of fumbled the ball, which killed the play,” Self said. “I was more concerned with us fouling than making a shot because I thought they did a good job of putting their head down and driving.”

The guy closest to Olukemi also had KU’s key offensive play of the day.

Little, who accepted a pass from Morningstar in the lane, scored and after getting fouled by Roger Franklin, hit a free throw to bust a 60-60 tie with 1:11 left. Olukemi scored at :56, slicing the gap to 63-62.

“I told ’Rio when he got in there, we were going to need him,” said Marcus Morris, who scored 16 points, but just four the second half. “I tell him, ‘Show them what you show us in practice every day.’ We know ’Rio can make big-time plays. Now the world knows.”

Little had also scored at 3:21, upping a 58-56 lead to four points.

“When teams go zone, coach likes to throw me in the middle,” Little said. “I just like to turn and face and try to catch it and maybe hit a guy somewhere or drive. I feel the game is slower when teams (like OSU) go zone so it’s kind of easy for me to make moves in there.”

The Jayhawks, who will meet Colorado in a 6 p.m., semifinal today in Sprint Center, preferred to look at the positives rather than dwell on an obvious off performance.

“We were more focused than we have ever been, but that team played well,” said Marcus Morris, who noted, “they did a great job of double-teaming me and denying me the ball.

“Our guards didn’t shoot the ball well (Tyrel Reed went 1-for-8 and Morningstar 1-for-6 from three), but I promise you they will be coming up,” Morris added. “I kept passing the ball back to them. I’m expecting them to get better, and they will. They’ve been here before. They are my guys.”

Self did not dwell on negatives in his postgame talk to the team.

“(He said), ‘Nobody walk out of here with your heads down. We still moved on. We’ve just got to get better tomorrow,’” said Markieff Morris, who scored 10 points with five rebounds. “One of three games is going to be a bad game, and we just got that one out of the way.”

Self, who stressed to the media “our guys were ready to play, but Oklahoma State had more a sense of urgency,” chalked it up to “we couldn’t get it going. We couldn’t make shots (35.9 percent to OSU’s 40.0).

“I’ve never been a big believer this time of year losing is good because you don’t have time to learn from it,” added Self, relieved to earn the ‘W.’

“It could be your last one. Maybe the K-State and Texas losses were good for us. We learned from them. I’m not into learning from losses this time of year.”

The Jayhawks are happy their coach doesn’t have to concoct a practice plan for today, instead a game plan for Colorado.

“We are here to take,” Little said. “We are not here saying, ‘Maybe we win; hopefully we win.’ That’s not our personality. That’s not the way we roll. We are here to take and advance, not survive. That’s not a word we use around here, but yeah, we survived today.”

They survived and are ready to move on to bigger and better things.

“You how the first game is. You’ve got to get the jitters out of the way,” Marcus Morris said. “That was the first game of a nine-game winning streak we’re trying to accomplish.”

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100 2 years, 3 months ago

Just beat CU.

okiedave 2 years, 3 months ago

Had to listen to the game on OSU radio network. Their play-by-play commentators believed that OSU was hindered by refs who picked on OSU's bigs (accused the refs of buying into KU players flopping on the floor to make a touch look like a hard foul... which was interesting because Keaton Paige is the biggest flop artist in the Big XII).

This entire game sounded too much like shades of Bradley, Butler, Northern Iowa, etc. Perhaps the Hawks needed this game. OSU isn't even good enough to make it into the tournament and almost clipped our tail feathers.

KU79 2 years, 3 months ago

Our guys don't flop, at least like Duke. They do go down when hit, but each replay showed that they were nailed. Of course I'm a "homer," but when you get knocked backwards, not just brushed, by guys that are 220-230-ish, or whatever the OSU guys weigh, and you're squared up and set, that's generally going to be a charge. The only call I thought we blatantly got away with was an over-and-back by Brady.

KU79 2 years, 3 months ago

Crimson_Hawk 2 years, 3 months ago

The refs were correct in not calling an over-and-back on Brady. You have to establish all 3 points of contact (both feet and b-ball) in the frontcourt before you can be called for over-and-back. But the OSU fans sure were upset by it!

NavyHawk 2 years, 3 months ago

It's not where the player is, it's where the ball is. He stepped his foot into the frontcourt and stepped back while continuing to dribble in the backcourt. Coach Knight immediately said it was not an over-and-back. As long as the ball was not dribbled or passed across the line, it wasn't a violation.

KU1992 2 years, 3 months ago

Actually, the rule is that both feet and the ball must cross the half court line. After all three are across none can go back. If any of the three haven't crossed the line yet, all three can go back still. If you watch the replay he still had a foot behind when he went back.

jkfal57 2 years, 3 months ago

That's correct - I know because Bobby said so!

bradh 2 years, 3 months ago

Both announcers on the tv thought all the charge calls were good calls. Several times they mentioned the OSU players fouled a couple of times before it was called. I think you can assume the OSU radio network was more than a little biased.

plasticJHawk 2 years, 3 months ago

They called the charges both ways. Markieff got hit with one or two where he was backing down on Moses or Pilgrim and they flopped.

kubasset 2 years, 3 months ago

Add KSU Spradling to your flop list.

kcglowboy 2 years, 3 months ago

C'mon guys. KU fans don't whine about officiating. At least not since the Ted Owens days. Let's leave the officiating griping for lesser programs.

addlime 2 years, 3 months ago

I thought that OSU bigs fouling out was a natural by-product of their extremely aggressive, intense play. (Have we ever seen Marcus get shot blocked so many times?) If I was their coach, I could live with it. They aren't up most of the game without that intensity, but with it, came extra fouls. In the end, they just didn't have the depth to finish it off. Now if the refs called the game more loosely, and KU didn't adjust, KU would have lost. LIkewise, if KU guards shot the ball like they normally do, KU would have won by double digits.

As to your second paragraph, I love the shades of Bradley, NI, etc. This team and coaching staff have to remember that you must play every game in the postseason like the underdog. You have to look for ways to exploit the other teams weaknesses instead of just being confident in your own strengths. Butler's run last year exemplified how far this strategy can take you. Who knows what would have happened had KU taken this approach against NI and sped up the game against a vastly inferior conditioned team.

oxcaljayhawk 2 years, 3 months ago

Heard about the Ustream webcast. Wait until you actually win the tourney before claiming you own the conference. You almost got beat by Okie State for goodness sake. Pride goeth before the fall.

Morii and the Miracles have got a lot of work to do before they can talk like that.

ohmixmaster 2 years, 3 months ago

SEVEN in a row. KU DOES own this conference!

cklarock 2 years, 3 months ago

ralster 2 years, 3 months ago

Have patience with oxcal...some people see things from their own, very unique perspectives. Or he is just playing devil's advocate? Whatever floats your boat, oxcal...or is it whatever 'sinks' ours? Hahaha! How about rooting for your own school, whoever that is? Troll.

globaljaybird 2 years, 3 months ago

Trolls are generally too fulla$hit or too ambarassed to admit who they do like. Is way too easy to say any stupid thing they feel like & have limited, non personal criticism. You know the drill Ralster, shake em out of the sack & they're all quite alike...with one or two exceptions; KSA? The "pro bono" post may be from experience getting that type of representation for himself, heaven forbid.

BoulderHawk 2 years, 3 months ago

The tourney is an after thought. Please, winning 3 games pales in comparison to the conference schedule which we owned.

nashhawk 2 years, 3 months ago

oxcal is a whiner

true_fan 2 years, 3 months ago

Seriously? We were fortunate that other teams did what we could not this year, and give Texas a few games in the loss column. We were fortunate that Texas seems to suffer from late-season meltdowns so frequently. If not for a little "help from our friends" we would be in second, or at best a tie, for the league crown.

Yes, 7 in a row is remarkable, and I hope we can go on and beat the UCLA records from the '70's. And I am the first to tear up at the history and rich tradition of OUR program. I am proud to be a Jayhawk fan, and to educate others of the history of the game, and the role those associated with the Kansas program have played. Along with that comes a responsibility to honor and respect the game, the traditions, and all those associated with the sport. Some good natured trash-talking is one thing, but to brag and boast and belittle others is demeaning to us all.

7 in a row speaks for itself. Dominance on the court does it's own talking. Talk of "owning" a conference is boasting and prideful. Behaviors which inevitably lead to being proven wrong. Good sportsmanship, humility, respect make winning and losing much easier.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk. Now go win some titles!

BoulderHawk 2 years, 3 months ago

Fans talk trash , it is fun and it is reality. Save your lectures for your kids.

actorman 2 years, 3 months ago

You guys are taking this game way too seriously. I would have been shocked if KU DIDN'T come out flat for this game; in fact it was practically a foregone conclusion. They were playing against a team they'd crushed just a short time ago, they had just finished wining the conference outright, and they were going against a team with nothing to lose, in a fairly sterile atmosphere (say what you will about there being a lot of KU fans there, but it's still not close to the atmosphere in AFH). The fact that they won anyway despite all of that is a good sign. And BTW, even though OSU won't make the tourney, they're still a pretty decent team.

chuckberry32 2 years, 3 months ago

i agree about coming out flat. I think it's a good sign that once again we found a way to win on a bad day.

on another note, I will never watch another game at work. had to use my phone's network to get around a network block of justin.tv and the feed basically became unwatchable the last 2 minutes of the game. additionally i just do not have it in me to not be cheering and what not, which would have been a giveaway that i wasn't working.

KU_FanSince75 2 years, 3 months ago

I feel for you Chuck. I took the day off. I couldn't imagine being at work and missing a game like yesterday where it came down to a last possession. I missed the Baylor game at OKC two years ago because of work. Look what happened? We lost. I will never do that again. Better times ahead, Chuck! Rock Chalk!

floridajayhawks 2 years, 3 months ago

Great teams don't have mental lapses like this team seems to do, KSU 2nd time and OSU this time. They need to play defense, they are very weak on defense.

tundrahok 2 years, 3 months ago

Defense is improving. Note the title of the article.

WilburNether 2 years, 3 months ago

Um...the "title of the article" referred to one possession, not the team's defense over the course of the entire game, which was generally pathetic, particularly the absence of defense on Page.

One more game with stinking guard play like yesterday, and we're toast.

And floridajayhawks is absolutely right about this team's mental lapses. If you'd been sitting behind the KU bench, you would have seen the expressions on Coach Self's face during the course of the game, and it was not pretty.

tundrahok 2 years, 3 months ago

If I'd been sitting behind the KU bench I think I would have seen the back of his head.

HawkBBall 2 years, 3 months ago

Defense was the only thing the team did right.

oklahawk58 2 years, 3 months ago

OSU shot 38% from the field and only scored 62 points. Exactly what is floridajayhawks' definition of defense?

And on another note, great teams DO have mental lapses. No team in thirty-some odd years has gone undefeated, and I think there have been quite a few "great" teams in that span (a few Jayhawks teams for that matter.)

KU is 30-2 on the year. Does this not please you? Sheesh!

wissoxfan83 2 years, 3 months ago

Great teams don't have mental lapses? I know it's a different sport, but the Green Bay Packers just won the Super Bowl as the last team in. Had some horrible regular season losses.

KU loses 2 games all season and you're ready to bury them for yesterday? Come on man, lighten up.

BBALL_7242 2 years, 3 months ago

Great teams don't have mental lapses....hmmm

I seem to remember a team in 08 who lost 3 in a row on the road including to OSU.

It also took some good defense and a prayer for that team to get to the final four over Davidson.

hmmm great teams don't have mental lapses...or maybe they do. Because their human.

bb73 2 years, 3 months ago

Mixed thoughts over the last few games. Good team/soft team/turnover prone, etc. But this is tournament time and all bets change. Pressure is up and everybody is a critic because there's no tomorrow with a loss.

The Hawks are 30-2. I sure wouldn't want to play them if I was a fan of ANY other team. In the last defensive stand we pressured without fouling, denied passing lanes, kept Page from the ball, forced the ball handler to the perimeter which resulted in a desperation, off-balance shot.

At tournament time: JUST WIN BABY.

KU advances to a very dangerous CU team. Oh, and the "best team", "hottest team" heading into the tournmant is going home.

dynamitehawk 2 years, 3 months ago

Man, MU and KSU lost... Downtown Kansas City just got 3 times more beautiful.

RockCaCO3 2 years, 3 months ago

Just spewed my coffee. Thanks for the morning laugh.

KU_FanSince75 2 years, 3 months ago

Yea, dyno, I see it plain as day. All these K-State and Missery fans saying, "Tickets for sale, tickets for sale. Bring best offer!!!!!!"

WilburNether 2 years, 3 months ago

That's the great thing about the Big 12 Tournament. Where else does one have the opportunity to attend games in which both K-Suck and Misery lose on the same day?

kcglowboy 2 years, 3 months ago

It also just lost an awful lot of tourism dollars. Pretty sure those 37 Colorado fans in attendance aren't going to make up the shortfall. Tis a bad day for our beloved college basketball city.

addlime 2 years, 3 months ago

Best Post Ever!

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

PHOF.

HighEliteMajor 2 years, 3 months ago

Defensive stand? That shot goes in, an open look, there is no "defensive stand." That was a flip of the coin and our lack of focus and poor play put us there.

kkoenig 2 years, 3 months ago

"open look"? what about the defender with a hand up? from the way he missed it (short by a good bit and to the right) it may have been an open look but it wasn't a good shot. I guess a half-court heave is an open look too.

didn't see the first half, but based on the second half, I'd say a lack of hitting open shots and not attacking into the zone let it get down to the last shot.

JayhawkJohn 2 years, 3 months ago

HighEliteMajor, You usually have reasonable things to say but this wasn't one of those times. If there had of been any more pressure defense a foul would have been called. A hand in the face shot from that area of the court is not a very makeable shot. It was a good defensive stand to end the game. If you know the game of basketball and I think you do then you realize that you are probably just reacting based on your emotions from watching the game and not the reality of the situation.

ralster 2 years, 3 months ago

defended that last shot as well as you could...any closer and Oluwakemi gets to shoot 3 FTs, and we go home. Respectfully disagree on lack of focus offensively (the looks/attempts were there)...this is a game where we found our 'open 3' looks all game long, just like UNI, but 40%+ trey shooters couldnt hit em. Of course it is 100% debatable if we should have abandoned our 3 ball, and started driving the ball (as Bobby Knight suggested live)? Many philosophies out there. HEM, I perhaps do agree with lack of focus defensively: pig-face scores how many?

Also consider what WildBill would say: those were good looks. Shot mostly by players you want shooting. Mostly in the flow of the offense. And in the past you know he has given a "green light" to Reed, BStar, Mario, McM, MkM, even Josh if in-rhythm. Maybe also Self trying to show some confidence in-game in his shooters, ala that smirky-faced coach of UNI that lets his guys shoot anytime, anywhere? (and is validated by that 1 big win over KU--I remain unimpressed with his team&philosophy)

I disagree with the title of this article as OSU seemed to have better interior D than KU did, and some-effing-how that little pig-face guard gets 20+pts??!!

HighEliteMajor 2 years, 3 months ago

Main point was that we shouldn't be in that position. Do any of you want our NCAA fate to come down to that sort of shot? Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't.

I agree, my choice of the term "open look" was too strong. How about "makeable shot" .... This was a makeable shot. Again, we shouldn't be in that position.

A win is not a win if it throws up red flags, particularly at this time of the year, thus possibly giving us an insight into the future. With the UNI scars, I think it is reasonable to consider that as part of the equation.

basty 2 years, 3 months ago

We may not want our NCAA fate to come down to that sort of shot, but it is necessary to be able to play that exact type of defense in the NCAAs. See the Davidson elite 8 game. Almost the exact same defensive stand. Deny their best shooter, make someone else take the shot, get in his face. Sometimes you gotta get dirty. I was proud of the last 17 seconds. It's extremely difficult to be intensley focused on defense for that amount of time and not foul. The other guys have scholarship players too and they were playing to make the NCAAs it was do or die and we still prevailed. Rock Chalk

vmwskywalk 2 years, 3 months ago

I don't care what you say. If we are up 1 point with 20 seconds left and the other team has the ball, I'll take that off balance long range shot every time. It had no chance. Airball!

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

Self sends them out flat.

Self sends them out without new wrinkles.

Self doesn't coach the first 30 minutes.

Self let's them labor exactly as he hinted he would, when he said what KU needed were a couple grind-it outs.

Self gets win.

Next.

KU_FanSince75 2 years, 3 months ago

Just win, baby! Beat CU. Good luck, Jayhawks. Jesse, talk to you on the live post.

memhawk 2 years, 3 months ago

Breakdown on remaining coaches in the B12 Tournament:

Bill Self...current Head Coach-KU

Turgeon...former player-KU

Boyle...former player...KU

Barnes...never had anything to do with KU

cshjhawk 2 years, 3 months ago

Larry Brown Family Tree (minus Barnes of course)!

cklarock 2 years, 3 months ago

Hey now, that's unfair! I think Barnes has had a hand in several of our league titles!

Oh, you said "do with" . . . I thought you said "do for."

approx 2 years, 3 months ago

Speaking of which... Someone needs to update Barnes' wikipedia article.. I guess the homers stopped updating it back when Texas was 10-0 in B12 and 1st in the conference.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Barnes

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

memhawk,

Barnes connection to KU is designated whipping boy. He can't beat us unless we are coming off a tragedy.

memhawk 2 years, 3 months ago

Weekend team schedule:

Friday night - Beat Colorado Saturday nght - Beat a Texas team Sunday - Receive a number 1 seed in NCAA tournament, again.

bobku1967 2 years, 3 months ago

Did anyone notice that when Morningstar was standing over Keaton Paige and got called for a foul it was because Paige had a hold of Morningstar's arm, was falling down and pullling Morningstar on top of him?

RockChalkGuy 2 years, 3 months ago

Yep. That midget plays dirty. He does have a sweet 3-trigger, though.

HawkKlaw 2 years, 3 months ago

I think they must have called Morningstar for the subsequent teabag...

joeloveshawks 2 years, 3 months ago

Yesterday I posted that this game was going to be a breeze. That was the first time I have ever said anything close to "this game is in the bag" and obviously I was wrong and never will again. That is why they play the game.

Can't say enough about Little down the stretch. Huge bucket and the foul and then a great defensive stop on the last shot. Great work. Can't wait for the game tonight. CU is looking pretty tough as they are trying to make their way into the Dance.

KU_FanSince75 2 years, 3 months ago

Little was fantastic----glad he came through in the clutch!

dagger108 2 years, 3 months ago

I love when teams go zone, b/c I love watching Mario get the ball in the middle and work his magic. He is even better than a deep 3 at busting zones.

addlime 2 years, 3 months ago

Agreed. I've been saying this all season. Some of his 4 point stat lines were vastly underrated.

addlime 2 years, 3 months ago

Agreed. I've been saying this all season. Some of his 4 point stat lines were vastly underrated.

chuckberry32 2 years, 3 months ago

i said last week that there will be a game or two in the tournament where we will go down without little. had the call right, wrong tournament though.

RockChalkGuy 2 years, 3 months ago

Vote for Reed: http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/mens_basketball_2010-11/

Yide 2 years, 3 months ago

Just to put our 2nd half defense in perspective, think about how many of OSU's 21 points were free throws. I bet OSU had a really low field goal % in 2nd half.

drgnslayr 2 years, 3 months ago

We seem to be fortunate to have a Mario around for saving us at the end... Chalmers got the ball rolling... let the legacy continue!

From here on out.. I crown thee (sword on head)

"Mario II"

And I suggest to the coaching staff to go out there and recruit a kid named Mario to replace our graduating senior.

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

Change your frickin' name and suit up! You've still got one season of trips in you. :-)

shockjay 2 years, 3 months ago

If you want to draw parallels to the 2008 National Championship run, this was our Davidson game. ROCK CHALK!!!

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

Cool! No jay I'd rather be shocked by.

globaljaybird 2 years, 3 months ago

Yeah! Let it happen!

KGphoto 2 years, 3 months ago

Wrong tourney though. Nothing really on the line here.

Conversely, Ohio State is having their Okie State game right now against NWestern in the conference tourney.

It's tough to get it rolling on Thursday or Friday (5-6 days off), against a team who played yesterday... I guess.

ZIG 2 years, 3 months ago

does anybody know why HCBS was so pissed at the refs in the first half. Man he was really giving it to them, I though he was going to get a tech

globaljaybird 2 years, 3 months ago

Not one thing in particular but if you set courtside at a D-1 game you see sooooo much contact that is not called & such trivial crap that is, it's impossible at least for me, to not experience elevated blood pressure. Is absolutely amazing at times that scores of coaches aren't tossed for tantrums. Familiarity allows them to go to the limits yet not exceed. IMO officials try to keep a semblance of consistancy but if you're biased as a fan is hard to see it at times. Ya think they have the proverbial pig$hit in the eye or "opthamalogic rectomitis", which entails a clouded outlook on life from your eyeball overlooking your... LOL

txrockchalk 2 years, 3 months ago

One of the things Coach Self was particularly upset with was the foul call against Morningstar when he was standing over Page.

Good take on the blood pressure thing, global. I was likely near cardiac arrest a couple times yesterday - - probably should get that under control before reaching quinquagenarian status :)

cajayfan 2 years, 3 months ago

Learning to play against the 2-3 zone at this late point in the year is ridiculous. Coach of the Year(Big 12)should have them ready by now, cause after that performance against the zone, they will definitely see it again....drive, drive, drive. Thank goodness for Mario. Must have sat on the bench long enough to notice what needed to be done.

kthawk 2 years, 3 months ago

They are not learning to play against the zone. If you recall one of their best games of the year came against the Baylor zone. This was simply an early round conference tourney game where the Hawks struggled to make shots. The hawks played similarly to how OSU played and the Tar Heels played. All three of these highly ranked teams struggled and won in their conference tourneys.

Settle down and enjoy. They are fine.

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

"Some Ways You Know Self Plans a Grind It Out Game"

~Tells Cin he'll be thinking of her for the first 30 minutes of the game.

~Tells Joe to keep an eye on things for the first 30 minutes, while he TMs recruits.

~Shouts mock angry gibberish at referees with 2 minutes to go in first half to remind them he's on the bench and will start coaching the second half.

~When players come to the huddle looking for Self to draw up a play, he says, "Nice weather, eh?"

~Overheard talking during the first half with Danny about the old days when they both had hair.

~Says intentionally paradoxical stuff to Bedore like, "What a great venue KC is. Conference is most important. What happens now won't affect our seeding. If you're gonna play, ya might as well try to win. Camus was the best at absurdity, just before he joined the French Resistance. A square is like a triangle with four sides. There, Gary, let's see ya make a story out of those quotes."

~Seriously considers getting a round of golf in during half time.

~Focuses heavily in interviews on Elijah's defensive posture and Brady's cologne.

(Note: all fiction. No malice.)

jaybate 2 years, 3 months ago

"Some Ways You Know an Alias Is a Real KU Fan and Not a Lurker"

~real KU fans hand-wring about minor opponents when KU has a 30-2 record.

~real KU fans bitch and complain about how KU plays against 2-3 zones, when KU has shows an propensity for ripping all zones a part since mid season in a year when it is 30-2.

~real KU fans can find fault with Tyshawn Taylor in 30 victories and 2 defeats and still say with a straight, worried face, yeah, but he's going to kill us sooner or later.

~real KU fans can have the two best bigs in the country and say, "Yeah, but they aren't perfect yet."

~real KU fans can look at having not one, but two PGs that can both start and back-up against any team we have played, and say, "Well, yeah, but if they were any good at all, one of them would have to ride the bench."

~real KU fans can look at two great seniors like Tyrel and Brady and say, "Yeah, they're good enough to get us to 30-2, but no way would I want them on our team as anything but bench warmers."

~real KU fans can look at Bill Self, the envy of every college President and AD in the known universe, plus a guy who has won a ring and 84% of his games, and say, "He's too conservative. He should have won two rings and 85% of his games, but he won't gamble enough."

~real KU fans can look at Josh Selby, easily the best freshman in this year's class talent wise, based on the few games he played healthy, and say, "Who cares if he has a stress reaction and wears a boot that prevents all lateral motion of his ankle, if he were any good at all he would be still be scoring 15-20 ppg and making no assists and defending like Mario Chalmers."

~and so on.

2011 Men's Big 12 Tournament

Kansas defeats Oklahoma State, 63-62