Kansas

Stretch Run [Originally posted on sportsblog.com 2/20/14]

Posted by

0

A big day today for this hoops fan. It is Sir Charles Barkley’s birthday (my nephew also born on this fine day 3 years ago). The NBA trade deadline ends in roughly 2 hours. Duke and North Carolina play tonight at 8pm, but the big boys throw down in OKC. KD vs. Lebron II: The return of Russ. If that isn’t enough, Golden State and Houston face off at 9:30 pm. I’m clearing off my schedule and unless there is an emergency, I’m not leaving my bedroom past 7 pm central time, except to eat and use the bathroom.

N.U.T.S (Never Underestimate The Spurs)

I should know by now that even if the big 3 of the Spurs aren’t playing, that Popovich will have his team ready to compete. The highlights were awesome and the game went down to the wire. I’m actually less surprised about the Spurs winning as I am that the Blazers still played relatively well without Lamarcus (out for a week with a groin injury). I’m sure Damien Lillard chipping in 31 points helped keep them in the game.

I had the choose between the 9 pm tip-offs of the Golden State and Sacramento game and Spurs-Blazers. No “Boogie” no problem right? Maybe I should have watched the Portland game, but the Dubs are one of my favorites (I kind of feel like the Kings are this surrogate delinquent child that I want so badly to see succeed) Isiah Thomas had a nice heat check moment (he put up 26 points 7 assists) that made me text my old roommate a University of Washington alum, and he responded that the Spurs game was amazing.

The Kings kept coming at the Warriors, but by the last minutes, the game was practically over, with Warriors up by 10. Curry wasn’t even the star of the game; it was David Lee with a “ho hum” 23 and 11. The most memorable part of the game was Jermaine O’Neal getting T’d up by the refs because he chose to let a ball (one he could have easily grabbed and retained possession of) go out of bounds, and the refs awarded it to Sacramento. I thought this was silly because the refs judgment would not have entered the picture had he just grabbed the board, but his tech allowed Sac to help cut down a shrinking Warriors’ lead, and got the Sacramento crowd into the game.

It was during the game that I saw that the Dubs had traded Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks for Steve Blake. I’ve always been kind of cold on Steve Blake ever since he missed a breakaway dunk that cost Maryland a sweet sixteen game back in 2003. He’s a good backup, I think I had my heart set on Golden State acquiring Andre Miller–no matter how unrealistic that was. He will definitely help the Warriors down the stretch. If they can find another big man on the cheap to play defense, they might be able to sneak into the Western Conference Finals.

Suddenly Everything Has Changed

There are 5 games left on the regular season schedule.

Kansas has 2 games on the road, one in Stillwater, the other in Morgantown. With the 3 home games against Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. I think if they beat Texas on Saturday and go at least 4-1, the conference title streak is easily intact. 3-2 will be pushing it, and KU fans may be rooting for other teams to lose. Backing into a regular season title doesn’t leave me feeling good about the Jayhawks chances of making the Final Four. I never thought it would be easy, but I also didn’t think the Jayhawks would struggle this much to score either.The offense this year has been just as ugly as last year’s squad, where it seemed like players didn’t know what to do. I do have to admit that I found the Andrew Wiggins baseline dunk amusing, for no other reason that invoked that scene from “Friday” (a wise Jaye Crockett moved out the way –making him Pooh’s dad–cut to 1:29 on that scene). Embiid’s baseline move early in the second half was pretty ill too. This hasn’t been the most cohesive unit ever put together, but you’re almost guaranteed a Sportscenter moment or two every game.

Texas could really put some pressure on the Jayhawks with a victory on Saturday. Their remaining games are Baylor and TCU in Austin, and games in Lawrence, Norman, and Lubbock. Even with a win in Allen Fieldhouse, they would still have a tough road ahead of them.
Iowa State is still a dark horse, but they have 3 of their last 5 games on the road, and would need a lot of help considering that KU already beat them twice, and they split the games against UT. Oklahoma would need a LOT of help as well, with a 4-2 conference record. I didn’t realize they were 19-7 for the year. I would be surprised if they didn’t make the tournament.

I’m still trying to talk myself out of going to the game on Saturday. If the atmosphere is anything like the OSU game on Januray 18th, then its going to be loud. There is a lot more on the line than revenge for this Saturday’s game. I wonder how the Longhorns are going to respond when they walk into the Fieldhouse and feel all that pressure. Saturday is simply the denouement of a hype week for hoops. Tonight is the apex. Enjoy!

Wrap it Up B [Originally posted 4/9/14 on Sportsblog.com]

Posted by

0

Believe it or not I’m quite happy to see the end of the college basketball season. I now have time for other things in my life, like learning guitar, taking walks, chasing tail, or watching NBA hoops. I’m going to take a little break from basketball until the playoffs start, but before I do, let’s have a quick run down of the season in whole; in addition to an entertaining campaign by the 2013-2014 Jayhawks.

First I have to give a shout out to the NCAA Champions UCONN Huskies. What a run. I still can’t believe they pulled it off. If you think about how many potential future NBA players are on the Wildcats roster and how many are playing for UCONN, forget about the seedings, that was a major upset.

People have been bubbling about how great of a tournament it was, and for the most part I agree, but the second half of the final was some of the worst ball I saw all tournament. Both teams were sloppy and careless, and besides the dunk by James Young, the second half was damn near unwatchable. Had that game been anything but the final, I would have turned it off. UCONN more outlasted the Wildcats than beat them. It seemed like both teams were tripping over themselves to give that game away.

That being said, UCONN’s backcourt was ill, and seeing what they did pretty much affirms what I have been saying all year about guard play being the key to winning the tournament. Despite some intermittent struggles, Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright carried the Huskies to a win. I’m not convinced that either will be more than NBA backups, but that takes nothing away from what they accomplished. Lebron thinks Napier should be the first pg taken in the draft; so maybe I’m wrong–it just seems like he’ll be too slow for the NBA, his dribble seems a little too high and his release point looks like his shot will get blocked consistently at the next level. It will be interesting to see him consistently face players who are as long and as quick as this year’s Kentucky team.

As for Kentucky, well who knows what is in store for them. They only have two guys who I feel confident will be immediate impact guys, James Young (who really impressed me with his play Monday night–I feel like he was only one who didn’t play scared) and Julius Randle (who I’m curious how he will adapt to playing against men his size, when he gets to the next level).

I think Dakari Johnson might be Andrew Bynum 2.0. I was on the fence about the Harrison boys. They need more time to develop but with their size (didn’t realize they were 6’6) they should be decent players.

Overall though a good tournament and a pretty good season. I wish Wichita State would have been given a fair shot , just so we could see what kind of team they really had, but I’m satisfied with the way things played out. And now, let’s move on to the local team.

2013-2014 Jayhawks

It’s hard to predict what a team what a team will do when they are as young as the Jayhawks. As up and down as Kentucky’s season was, they still made the championship game. Kansas had a better regular season than UK, but come tourney time, Calimari’s squad made more noise. So who had a better season? I guess that’s a matter of what is more important to a team, the regular season, or the tournament. So in the name of academics, let’s give these kids the first honest grades they have probably had all year.

BENCH C +

The bench play was more inconsistent than what I expected. I expected the older cats to make a bigger impact. Andrew White was a non factor, Justin Wesley’s biggest contribution was taking on the role of Wilt Chamberlain in a movie. Connor Frankamp and Brannon Greene were hard to count on from game to game. Frank Mason started out challenging Naadir Tharpe for his starting position, but Tharpe came on during conference play, and Mason couldn’t get enough minutes to get in a rhythm. Landen Lucas, Jamari Traylor, and Tarik Black improved as the year progressed (go figure; the bigs would get better while the guard play suffered–please Coach Self hire Aaron Miles as an assistant).

Guards C

I won’t get into Tharpe’s off the field play (get it? cause you know he was getting play), but now things totally make sense as to why he sometimes seemed….distracted maybe? Starting point guard for the Kansas Jayhawks is bigger than than starting quarterback for the football team. I imagine it may have gone to his head. He is going to have to do some soul searching this off season and decide how serious he is about playing, and how he wants to be remembered after his career here is done.

Wayne Selden played great at times and gave everyone a glimpse of how good he can be. If he decides to be to be the defensive leader next year, he is going to be a boss. I assume his shot will improve and he will be aggressive taking the ball to the rim. As good as the guard play will be next year (I expect Frankamp and Mason will play bigger roles in the offense next year), the offense will still need someone to focus on distributing the rock to the playmakers. This will be the biggest question going into next season. You know the Jayhawks will be stacked on wings and bigs. Speaking of……

Forwards A

Andrew Wiggins met and surpassed any expectation I had for him this year. He was the real deal. His performance alone (despite the final game against Stanford) this season deserves merit. Wiggins set the freshman scoring record, won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year award, and has the highest points scored in a game by ANY KU player.

Perry Ellis had a solid season. He took over when the team needed him to, and he was pretty solid offensively. He wasn’t much of a defensive player and I wonder if he’ll get better next year in that area. I’d also like to see if he will be more aggressive next year on the offensive end. I also wonder (depending on whether Embiid returns or not–he announces his plans for next year at 2 today) if he’ll be starting next year over Cliff Alexander. There is a serious logjam at power forward and someone is going to have to be the person to come off then bench and immediately go into beast mode.

Center A

Besides having some of the illest dunks this season, Tarik Black managed to be a calming presence in the locker room and on the floor. At the beginning of the season he fouled too much, but man did he come on as the season progressed. His play alone would have gotten this position a B.

Joel Embiid progressed faster than anybody could have imagined. He’s almost become a basketball prodigy in his three years. He’s so good, quick, smart, and fluid. He’s also a ferocious rebounder and defender. If he comes back, suddenly the hype jumps back up to full tilt. If he leaves, the Jayhawks may have a chance to fly under the radar for a little while. Whether he stays or he goes, I hope his back is able to hold up.

Overall, it was a fun year. I’m extremely happy about the time I have devoted to watching this team, and it has definitely been one of the more memorable squads in a while. I can’t wait to see how they will look when Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander get to town. Despite the ending, Jayhawks fans should be satisfied with the progress the team made. Despite the high expectations year in and year out, there can only be one champion, and this year its the UCONN Huskies. See you in a couple weeks when the big boys start playing.