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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Self recalls Bucknell bummer

By By Bill Self

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Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self's new book, "At Home in the Phog," chronicles Self's journey to Lawrence and the Jayhawks' road to - and immediate aftermath of - the 2008 national championship.

In this, the second of three excerpts from the book, Self talks about the Jayhawks' first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Bucknell in 2005.

The book is available at the Journal-World (609 New Hampshire), online at ljworldstore.com, and at area stores like the KU Bookstore, Dillons, Borders and at ascendmediabooks.com.

In sports, people love it when a Goliath falls.

The role of David was played by 14th-seeded Bucknell, a school of 3,500 students in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Bucknell had just five scholarship players. The Division I limit permitted eight more scholarships to be offered, but Bucknell stopped at five.

(Two years earlier under previous coach Roy Williams, the Jayhawks nearly lost to Utah State in the first round at the Ford Center, surviving 64-61.)

Perhaps it was fitting Self's latest life lesson came near a place where he had learned so many lessons before, just 15 miles away in his childhood hometown of Edmond.

"We didn't sleep that whole night," Bill's wife, Cindy, said. "I kept seeing it as breaking news on TV. It was on the whole night."

Oddly enough, Self sleeps better after losses because they're emotionally draining. Nothing keeps Self awake more than the smell of victory.

"I'm the one who doesn't sleep after losses," Cindy said. "I can sleep after wins. He's too wound up to sleep after we win."

Self's second season at Kansas had ended far too soon. In the eyes of Jayhawk fans, far too soon constitutes any moment before the national championship, or at least reaching the Final Four.

"I'd say my toughest challenge as a coach was probably at Kansas my second year," Self said. "That was the worst team we've had since we've been at Kansas. I say that, and yet we started out 20-1 that year and played the toughest schedule in the country. We were winning close games, but we weren't a 20-1 team. We won because Wayne Simien was playing great, Keith Langford was one of the best wings out there and Aaron Miles was a solid point guard.

"The guy who really gave us a chance to win games was (former walk-on) Christian Moody. He played great. He gave us a chance to win games, even though he wasn't the most talented guy. This allowed Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun, and Darnell Jackson to come around slowly as freshmen.

"But then Keith hurt his ankle in the last regular-season game at Missouri."

Langford, the team's second-leading scorer at 14.4 points that season, didn't play in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City and hadn't practiced for 12 days.

The day before the Bucknell contest, CBS analyst Seth Davis said if Langford didn't practice, he wouldn't play the following night.

"I was kind of upset about that," Langford said that day. "I wake up this morning and turn the TV on and see CBS say I'm not playing. My family members are calling and saying that in the paper back home I'm not playing. I haven't heard anything about it. The doctors are still saying 'questionable,' but if you ask me, I'm playing."

Langford also was battling flu-like symptoms.

Comments

derringer29 (anonymous) says...

what thats it? Where's the rest of the story.....there's no damm way thats the end of the story so what happened, he played and what, and what,what--this story was a total dissapointment.why the hell did they even post this, how did self handle the biggest lose of his coaching life-WHAT A DAMM TRAIN WRECK OF A STORY

October 14, 2008 at 6:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

imnotpaulpierce (anonymous) says...

I've been saying for a long time that that team over achieved during the regular season.

October 14, 2008 at 6:10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rohdek (Kyle Rohde) says...

derringer - they want you to buy the book. Genius.

October 14, 2008 at 7:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

yates33333 (anonymous) says...

Buy the Book.

October 14, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

nrebne (anonymous) says...

its not a story, its a excerpt from the book to get you to buy it einstein aka derringer29

October 14, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Brickwall1 (anonymous) says...

Reading this article is like having the power go out while you're watching a movie.

October 14, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

derringer29 (anonymous) says...

sorry some of us dont got 35 bucks for a damm book-- i live in the real world of just getting by-by workin my ass off, my kids need thangs more than i do--O JUST BUY THE BOOK...

October 14, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KEITHMILES05 (anonymous) says...

Well, you must own a computer as you are pecking away here!

October 14, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Chicago_JHawk (anonymous) says...

I'll buy the book...but if the excerpts here are an indication of the overall depth of the rest of it, then I'm not expecting much. I hope the above isn't a direct passage from the book, but rather a few snippets from the part regarding Bucknell. Seems to jump around a bit.

My guess is it was written hastily after the championship...maybe would have been better to spend a little more time on it. I hope I'm wrong!

October 14, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ohioburg (anonymous) says...

derringer29's right. All books should be for free and posted on the internet!

October 14, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Yahweh (anonymous) says...

derringer 29, lol. I was thinking the same thing.

October 14, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

feedback71 (anonymous) says...

The book is $25, not $35. Still kind of high but I'll bet it sells a lot of copies anyway.

October 14, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

fabolous_bg (anonymous) says...

I heard Self talking about this book on the radio before the game saturday. He said all the proceeds from book sales go to his ASSIST foundation. So at least they are going to be used productively.

October 14, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KEITHMILES05 (anonymous) says...

If you order through KU it cost 32 with shipping and tax. I found it considerably cheaper through Amazon.

October 14, 2008 at 3:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kutravis (anonymous) says...

So does Self get to write off all the proceeds on his taxes even though they're going to his foundation?

October 14, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Strikewso (anonymous) says...

I'll tell you what happened: Langford had a horrible game (I had to resist using ALL CAPS like some of the rookies). I remember yelling at the TV telling him to stop shooting. Giddens missed 3 after 3 in that game as well, he was building a house. Simeon could have pulled it out at the end but it wasn't in the cards.

Still, they did crush Texas at home that year and had a lot of other good games. The chemistry just wasn't there, and I know Giddens had a lot to do with that...

October 14, 2008 at 8:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

robot (Robin Smith) says...

with 37 wins Self must not have slept very much last season

October 15, 2008 at 10:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Yeah. 37wins last year, and we slightly underachieved: should've beat KSU and OSU...My point is, you see where Self's patience in installing the offensive and defensive schemes, and plugging the "right" players into those schemes eventually paid off. This year the cycle begins again...Im sure we will surpass 20wins sheerly because of raw talent, but it will get more intense and focused with each 1/3 of the season, and the coming 2-3 yrs...as it did before.

October 15, 2008 at 7:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )