Thoughts concerning the Recent KU Victory

I am currently wondering whether KU played poorly, or Davidson is really that good. It does concern me that even though we knew who their main scorer was (Curry) and could key on him, yet he was still able to drop 25 points on us. It reminds me a lot of another team who really only had one scoring threat (Beasley and Kansas State), but we couldn't stop him either.

But I digress, it is time to focus on the positives:

-KU had a close game and gutted it out. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. I liked seeing that kind of fight in them. It was close to seven minutes remaining when there was some anxiety brewing amongst the team, but a Chalmers steal and layup quickly calmed their nerves and they were able to focus the rest of the game. It felt real good to see them go toe to toe with a team bent on upset, emotionally charged, with a lot of backing from the stands, and see them come out on the other side in good shape.

-Brandon Rush couldn't buy a bucket. In a previous post, I was concerned about the 'Hawks settling for jump shots. The struggled from outside the arc, they struggled from inside the arc, yet they still pulled off a victory. I find it unlikely to see him have another night of poorer shooting. Get the bad one out of the way now.

-Sasha Kaun had the break out game of his career tonight. He played like a senior. That is essentially 20 fouls (Arthur, Kaun, Jackson, Aldridge), and 4 legitimate scoring threats we could throw at Tyler Hansborough. Besides, whose to say that KU can't get him in foul trouble next week. Kaun and him both have a similar skill set and game style...it should be a good match up. Kauns a brusier, without as much finesse as Hansborough, but how dainty can you get rebounding over a guy and dunking on someone. (I officially now retract my statement of three years ago, that Kaun was to be the next Eric Chennowith).

-KU will get a more familiar style next week against the fun and gun Tar Heels. Each like to push the ball; both have proven that they can win in the sixty point range, but both would rather see it in the 80's. KU might need all 5 of their guards next week to keep that pace; my guess is that Carolina's 4 guards (but Lawson will have to play the whole game) can't handle the pace for 40 minutes. Davidson wanted a slow game, not allowing KU to get into transition. Carolina will want to run with them...that makes for high scoring, high turnover, fun to watch basketball.

-I am apt to neglect some of the defensive struggles that raised their ugly head midway through the game because they were throwing junk defenses (box in one) at Davidson's Curry. You don't practice those in practice, so the missed assignments are forgivable.

-KU showed how athletic they really were. Blocked shots, running their few fast breaks. Against Davidson, they showed they were the more athletic team. I think they are more athletically gifted than every other team in the Final Four not named Memphis.

I now resign to anxious anticipation in awaiting next weeks basketball games.

Beak'em Hawks!

Some thoughts concerning the KU-Davidson Basketball Game

Curry just hit his first three pointer, answering a Mario Chalmers 3. As I was typing the last statement, Curry hit another one. A couple things concern me about the Davidson team.
1. Dribble penetration -- KU has not proved this season that they can stop dribble penetration on a regular basis. OSU, KSU, and Texas all beat them earlier this year on dribble drives. Eaton, Young, Stewart, and Augustine were able to get to the rim at will.
2. Three point capabilities -- Davidson's offense is based around the three point line...Curry just hit a three that was his 159th this season, an NCAA record. KU has also become relatively dependent upon the deep ball. Rush has jacked up 3 to this point, missing all of them. In their afformentioned three game losing streak, they went a combined 3 for 37 from behind the arc. KU is simply one bad shooting night (and it looks to be tonight) from being upset. I lived through the great years of the Mizzou--Kansas Rivalry. The most stunning upsets in that rivalry were when Mizzou could not miss from behind the arc.
3. On the last 3 Davidson possessions, KU has given up 3 offensive rebounds. Kansas State dominated KU on the boards in Manhattan. Texas did the same thing in Austin. KU has got to control the glass to go anywhere in this tournament.
Curry seems to be taking this game over. 23-23 tie with 4.59 left in the first half.

More thoughts to come in the second half:

My Dilemma

I set here at my computer with a dilemma. This is nothing new for me for I have found this to be a common occurrence for the last couple of weeks. I am a youth minister in Topeka, Kansas. Just recently I graduated from Ozark Christian College (by recently I mean last May) with a degree in Old Testament. I got a degree in Old Testament because I wanted something with a little more substance than a degree in youth ministry. This is not bashing youth ministry by any means, but I just like getting reverence from those surrounding me when I tell them I have a degree in Old Testament Theology. I have not always wanted to do youth ministry. I wanted to avoid the problem of giving the same talk on respecting your parents and loving your friends that youth ministers are forced to deal with.

In my attempt a avoiding these talks, I have vowed that I will take the youth group at Central Park, to another level in our weekly discussions and try to tackle some real doctrinal issues. This is where my dilemma comes in to play. We have been going through 1 Timothy 4.12 and challenging them to set an example in their speech, life, love, faith and purity. Last week I told myself that we were going to get down and dirty and define faith. They would leave with a solid definition of exactly what faith is and how it comes to play in daily life.

After a week of study, and longer than that of thinking about it…I came to the conclusion that I was unable to adequately define faith, let alone in terms that Jr. High students could grasp. I thought about Hebrews 11.1 (quite possibly the best definition of faith in scripture): “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Simple enough, but I try to run my lessons in front of a couple youngsters prior to youth group and after ward they shot me some confused glances. So we scratched that one. I though of Bill Hybles definition: “Faith is not belief in spite of evidence, but obedience in spite of consequence.” Ummm…yeah. He is much smarter than I. By the end of the week I had nothing.

This week is fine, setting an example in purity…no problem there. Got a good (check that decent) lesson. For a guy who has struggled in the past…and even currently, purity lessons come fairly easy. What I am really worried about is the following week.

WORSHIP

So many people don’t have this one figured out. I certainly don’t. What is worship, and how do you define it to Middle School students?

David Erickson: “Worship is being called to a place you don’t belong, by a host you are to shallow to comprehend, to receive a honor you do not deserve.”

Jack Hayford: “Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One worshiped.”

C.S. Lewis: “It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.”

Ummm…if I was to say that I still didn’t understand what worship is, would it look bad on C.S. Lewis? I have so many questions:

(1) What is worship?
(2) What role does spontaneity play in worship?
(3) How do you plan spontaneity?
(4) How important is the skill of the worship leader(s)?
(5) Are there any parameters to what worship is and what is not? Is basketball worship? Is watching basketball worship?
(6) Can one truly worship alone?
(7) If worship is a chance for God to meet us…how can we allow God to meet everyone on Sunday morning as opposed to just the ones who like singing?
(8) Does God still meet people with Organ music?
(9) Does it cheapen worship if it comes from a fabricated experience?
(10) I am going to a Third Day concert tomorrow, they sing worship songs. Am I going to a worship service or a concert?

I have a lot more questions…but these will suffice for now.
Any response would be helpful.