I am currently speechless...
A special thanks goes out to the Wards for opening up their home to me.
Thanks:
Mario Chalmers for allowing me to get in touch with my feminine side...with out you my tears would not have fallen and I would still be hoping.
Luther Vandross for penning such a wonderful song "One Shinning Moment."
My words escape me at this point...and my joy overfloweth.
Showing posts with label Jayhawk Basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jayhawk Basketball. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
We Goin' to the 'Ship! What!
Current thoughts
Sherron Collins just took on 4 defenders picking up another foul.
Rush has shot a jumpshot (going 0-4) the last 4 times he has touched the ball.
Not one man has even tried to go inside the three point line, which was what got them to this point.
Mix that with 7 turnovers and you have a horrible start to the second half and a 12-0 run for North Carolina.
How can something fall apart so quickly?
Aldridge, do something!
Rush has shot a jumpshot (going 0-4) the last 4 times he has touched the ball.
Not one man has even tried to go inside the three point line, which was what got them to this point.
Mix that with 7 turnovers and you have a horrible start to the second half and a 12-0 run for North Carolina.
How can something fall apart so quickly?
Aldridge, do something!
Slow the ballgame down...
KU was up by 28 points with 5:07 left in the first half (KU 40 - UNC 12); however, poor shot selection, poor mental decisions, and overall lack of execution, has brought them to halftime with a 44 - 27 lead. My prediction: If KU loses, then all the media, pundits, and all of history will look back to the 15 to 4 run the North Carolina put on in the last 5:07.
Some Negatives:
-KU's decision making in the first 15 minutes was great...any other team in the country would have been forced to set their top 2 big men. Hansborough has done an amazing job at staying out of foul trouble, but still they went away from this strategy too early.
-Sherron Collins has made some horrible decisions...which can be attributed to youthful exuberance, but as men before me have said: "There is no such thing as a freshman in April." For six months he has been playing D-1 basketball, if he has not learned yet, he will not learn.
Some Positives:
-Who is this guy by the name of Cole Aldridge. At the half he has 6 points, 6 rebounds (3 of which were offensive), and 4 blocks.
-KU seems to have more energy, heart, and hustle, than North Carolina. This is good.
-Rush has stayed quiet. He has 12 points, but a quiet twelve. The games where you notice how good he is, are the games that KU has struggled in the past.
-KU has taken the fight to North Carolina. For the first 14 minutes, KU made them play their game. I expect to see KU reinstate their tempo.
-KU got their hands in every passing lane, and on every single ball that was on the floor. Defensively it was their best half of the year.
My prediction: KU will take over the first part of this half with their defensive intensity. UNC will make a couple runs both early and late...with KU hoping to hold on. If KU continues to attack, they will take this game by 10 or more.
Some Negatives:
-KU's decision making in the first 15 minutes was great...any other team in the country would have been forced to set their top 2 big men. Hansborough has done an amazing job at staying out of foul trouble, but still they went away from this strategy too early.
-Sherron Collins has made some horrible decisions...which can be attributed to youthful exuberance, but as men before me have said: "There is no such thing as a freshman in April." For six months he has been playing D-1 basketball, if he has not learned yet, he will not learn.
Some Positives:
-Who is this guy by the name of Cole Aldridge. At the half he has 6 points, 6 rebounds (3 of which were offensive), and 4 blocks.
-KU seems to have more energy, heart, and hustle, than North Carolina. This is good.
-Rush has stayed quiet. He has 12 points, but a quiet twelve. The games where you notice how good he is, are the games that KU has struggled in the past.
-KU has taken the fight to North Carolina. For the first 14 minutes, KU made them play their game. I expect to see KU reinstate their tempo.
-KU got their hands in every passing lane, and on every single ball that was on the floor. Defensively it was their best half of the year.
My prediction: KU will take over the first part of this half with their defensive intensity. UNC will make a couple runs both early and late...with KU hoping to hold on. If KU continues to attack, they will take this game by 10 or more.
Friday, April 4, 2008
To answer your question
To answer your question: Yes, I have been living under a rock. For the first time this week I have read an article concerning the KU-UNC match up this weekend, that for all intensive purposes decide who wins the National Title. Undoubtedly, the last week of newspaper clippings, Internet articles, water cooler banter, and blogs have been concerning the match up of Roy Williams versus that team that gave him his chance 2o years ago. "Benedict Williams" as he has been called, left KU in 2003 for North Carolina, only after a rejection of UNC three years earlier. Ever since then the Jayhawk faithful has taken time to rip him, mock him, and chastise him for going.
Many years ago, I had a crush on a girl. She was on the basketball team at Ozark. As number 12 in the rotation, she was not entitled to much playing time, an idea that absolutely killed her. At her small Christian school she played every minute of every game, scoring nearly 90% of her teams points. To be relegated to scrub status was a change in scenery for her. During the winter months, basketball engrossed her life, or should I say sitting on the bench engrossed her life. She began to feel really down. Her birthday was coming up, so I saw it as an opportunity to get her something to cheer her up.
I wrote Roy Williams a note explaining her situation. Within a week I received in the mail an autographed picture of Roy along with a note. During a busy basketball schedule at a top university, and what would eventually be a birth in the National Title game, he took time an wrote me a letter and sent an autographed picture.
He has said that after leaving Kansas he would wake up in the middle of the night (on the very few nights he got sleep) and throw up. It has been said that his hall of mementos at his Chapel Hill home is full of Kansas stuff. He golfs, he runs, and he wins. Everything a Kansas fan wants in a coach...it just so happens that his tie is a lighter shade of blue than we would hope.
I want to see a KU victory this week...but if the unthinkable should happen...I will break out my Tar Heel Blue on Monday and root for a good man.
Many years ago, I had a crush on a girl. She was on the basketball team at Ozark. As number 12 in the rotation, she was not entitled to much playing time, an idea that absolutely killed her. At her small Christian school she played every minute of every game, scoring nearly 90% of her teams points. To be relegated to scrub status was a change in scenery for her. During the winter months, basketball engrossed her life, or should I say sitting on the bench engrossed her life. She began to feel really down. Her birthday was coming up, so I saw it as an opportunity to get her something to cheer her up.
I wrote Roy Williams a note explaining her situation. Within a week I received in the mail an autographed picture of Roy along with a note. During a busy basketball schedule at a top university, and what would eventually be a birth in the National Title game, he took time an wrote me a letter and sent an autographed picture.
He has said that after leaving Kansas he would wake up in the middle of the night (on the very few nights he got sleep) and throw up. It has been said that his hall of mementos at his Chapel Hill home is full of Kansas stuff. He golfs, he runs, and he wins. Everything a Kansas fan wants in a coach...it just so happens that his tie is a lighter shade of blue than we would hope.
I want to see a KU victory this week...but if the unthinkable should happen...I will break out my Tar Heel Blue on Monday and root for a good man.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
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!
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:
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:
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