KU vs. Russia
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Wow, beating all of these little countries (besides Brazil) is one thing, but now we have to defeat the worlds largest country!
It’s so big it reaches almost into western Europe and is only 2 miles from the United States on the other side!
It has 11 time zones which means it stretches nearly halfway around the world at that northerly latitude.
I can’t think of a nice thing about Russia. Just a long history of dominating and dictators and despots.
It does have the worlds deepest lake so that’s cool.
And now we get to play them. Forget that this is the US v. Russia. This is Kansas v. Russia. Us against the evil empire. The paragon of virtuous college sports against the epitome of evil who are still trying to dominate countries.
I don’t know anything about Russian basketball. Hopefully the referees don’t pull a 1972 olympic gold medal game and steal a game from us.
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@wissoxfan83
I’m in favor of beating the ruskies!!! From what I’ve read, 1972 was a colossal injustice! Do any of much older and wiser posters remember watching the game?
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@VailHawk: I did not watch the game, but if I recall correctly (I am getting up there in age, and that was 43 years ago), Hank Iba was the coach, US lost its first ever BB game in the Olympics by something like 2 points, and Coach Iba, I recall, took a lot of heat in the press for the loss. I too remember it as a game lost because of officiating. At the time, I did not realize what Iba had meant to the game.
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@wissoxfan83 We did get a key component of the 2008 title team from Russia. His name is Sasha Kaun and he still hangs around the program on a pretty regular basis. I do also enjoy a good vodka and Russia is a pretty good at making vodka.
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Anybody know how the medal bracket looks at this point?
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@VailHawk It was slightly before my time. I think I was aware of Olga Korbut at those games, but not much else. Of course the awful terrorism is the worst part of that games.
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@EdwordL I know we could look it up, but if memory serves correct the US had it won twice and the officials kept making them replay the last several seconds until they got the desired result. The US team refused to accept their silver medals as I recall.
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@VailHawk I was 12 years old, and watched every second of it. It was pure theft.
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@KUSTEVE Here’s a youtube deal on the topic
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@HighEliteMajor I was over at a friend’s house, and we were apoplectic. I’ll never forget it.
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I remember vividly watching the game at the 1972 Olympics. My dad has has just bought a brand new 25" color TV (biggest at the time) for thr Olympics and we would all gather around the TV and watch the games.
None of us were very knowledgeable about the game at the time since we did not have the exposure to the sport that we have now, but kept thinking…are they going to keep restarting the last play until the USSR scores?..and they did…the US was 63-0 in Olympic competition at the time and had won the previous 7 times.
Here is the Wikipedia version of the event and you can draw your own conclusions.
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After the preliminary round, the top two team from each pool advance to play for places 1-8, the 3rd and 4th team advance to play for places 9-16 and the bottom tow team advance to play for places 17-24. This is why every team is guaranteed 8 games.
Now, the top 8 team start from scratch and play four games and the winners move on to play for places 1-4 and the losers advance to play for places 5-8; the process repeats with winners playing for gold and the losers playing for bronze. Since KUSA won, now it is guaranteed to play for a medal; if it beat Russia it will play for the gold, if it loses to Russia, it will play for the Bronze…and that is all there is to it…
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@wissoxfan83
“I don’t know anything about Russian basketball.”
Basketball in one hand… bottle of vodka in the other. And if you taste how smooth it is, you will understand why. A Russian friend always brings me the real deal on his visits and it lives in my freezer, under strict rationing for special occasions.
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@drgnslayr break it out after game! 6 am?
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@VailHawk I was - 2 years old in 1972
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“The paragon of virtuous college sports against the epitome of evil who are still trying to dominate countries.”
That’s spreadin it on pretty thick & cheesy…jk
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@globaljaybird Takes a cheesehead to spread it on cheesy!
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@Lulufulu Was that a minus 2? I was one year old in 1972
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@HighEliteMajor Wow. Then I guess it’s only fitting that KU, the epitome of American basketball, beat the living sh*t out of one of the most disgraceful countries on the face of the planet.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Screwdrivers or bloody Mary’s for breakfast? Can you say HELL YES !!!
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@globaljaybird think @drgnslayr will let us drink the good stuff?
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@wissoxfan83 “F-in A bubba”… Gus Grissom from “The Right Stuff”
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@wrwlumpy After watching Selden in this tournament I am so looking forward to the season starting and seeing more of him.
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Selden keeps demonstrating why he has turned the corner. The three pointer after Russia took the lead was just another example. We have our alpha-dog. Just took a little development.
In looking at the boxscore, I think a few stats got missed. Bragg had at least one block, maybe two, in one sequence. He also had a rebound I recall.
Hunter had a few blocks, one of them was real big. Active around the rim.
Perry Ellis, after a rough start, just kept plugging away against bigger guys. Personally, I thought his persistence inside was a big deal in this game.
I know it’s going to be hard for Vick to leapfrog anyone, but the kid has been really impressive. I thought he did a pretty decent job defensively on a couple possessions when I paid attention. Seems like he has a quick first step.
And Mason is as he always is … terrific.
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@HighEliteMajor Wow. I didn’t think that video would piss me off again. I was wrong… Wish we would’ve won by more today.
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One day away from picking between pepper vodka and just a premium one.
“Perry Ellis, after a rough start, just kept plugging away against bigger guys. Personally, I thought his persistence inside was a big deal in this game.”
That may be Perry’s one big improvement this coming year. In the past, when he started slow or cold he would just disappear. This game should show him how important it is to stick with the plan. He had to persist often against a guy 7 inches taller than him… There should be a lesson in this that he can carry with him throughout our upcoming season. Might end up being one of the most important learning experiences from WUG.
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@drgnslayr I’ve gotta stop and get some tomato juice and celery today for breakfast tomorrow.
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You have to try it with pepper vodka. Nothing like it. Clears the sinuses while remaining smooth and effective.
They have all kinds of flavored vodka… nothing like the cheap cherry vodka we drank when we were under-aged.
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What many people forget is Russian teams back then were basically pro teams. Their guys were in the military and that was their job. Just like the ice hockey team we beat in the 80 Olympics in Lake Placid.
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@drgnslayr I know. My wife bought a bottle of strawberry vodka to make a pitcher of drinks for her and her sisters on the 4th. Thankfully she used it all.
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@brooksmd ESPN has a 30 for 30 on the losing 1980 Soviet hockey team. If anyone hasn’t seen it, it is well worth watching.
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@VailHawk Yeah thats a negative 2 Vail.
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Back to Selden … did he go to “finishing” school in the time since the season ended? This is unreal.
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@HighEliteMajor I think its safe to say we got 2 alpha dogs now in Wayne and Frank. This KU team will be deadly this season!
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I wonder if Putin was watching this game and had Obama’s number on speed dial, waiting to rub it in?!
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@HighEliteMajor " Finishing school " HA! Thats a great one!
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How many of you fanatics were up at 4:30 watching this morning? I would’ve been if my parents had paid more for their dish and had ESPNU on their package!
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That’s the one thing I’ve missed watching these games, sounds like he’s put on a show.
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@wissoxfan83 there were quite a few up! Good group too.
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4:30 is a touch early for me when the DVR is at the ready … 5:45 start time worked fine.
@Lulufulu - Agreed. Mason is definite alpha dog. Watching Selden/Mason play with Moore has me very excited to see the pair with Graham on a regular basis. Add in Svi and Greene (or Vick if he’s not healthy). What a perimeter.
This is a national title team.
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@HighEliteMajor I second that-if you remember that time period in history it really hits home.
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@dylans Well put
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@HighEliteMajor The way I see it guard play brings the title. If the group of bigs we have can play to specific roles like Shady, DJ, & Sasha, we may finally have a back court to equal the 08 production & bring another NC back to Lawrence…injuries at a key spot could also be fatal. Time will tell but I’m pumped for the season.
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Have you ever had a “Ceasar”? It’s the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary. Very tasty
. They use Clamato instead of straight tomato juice.
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@ZIG had them for breakfast over card games many times but never heard that name. Of corse that was 20 years ago too…
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@ZIG Canadians are strange anyway. When I was stationed on a radar site in Newfoundland a local Newfie ran our barber shop. During the winter he’d always stop at the club before opening the shop and get a 6 pack of Black Horse and stick the bottles in the snow piled up outside the shop. If you went to get a haircut and there were 3 or more bottles still in the snow you turned around and left. He needed to drink at least 4 before his hands steadied enough to give a decent cut. And no matter what you never let him use a straight razor to clean the lines up.
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@drgnslayr Stopped at local family grocery that has probably the best stock around. They had a black pepper one and a Siracha one. Got the Siracha. Haven’t tried it yet but smells good.
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@wissoxfan83 Selden has put on a show the entire tournament. I would venture to say after the Hawks win gold either him or Frank will be MVP. Lucas showed great hands and was strong against their 7-3 post guy. Hunter had another good game.
