stoptheflop said:

Newman, not Graham has become the leader of this team. on a

Totally disagree with this. I have been hard on Devonte this year on this board. I called him out for not being a leader and chucking up dumb shots and making horrible decisions at times.

He has actually learned that there is more to being a leader than leading the team in scoring. Yesterday he settled the guys down, didn’t force stuff against the zone too much, and made great decisions, including finding the hot hand Newman.

He’s become a better leader than I thought he could and it’s been great to see.

My son and I made a last minute trip from Ohio for this game. Our first time back since 2020 senior night. It was an awesome night in the fieldhouse. Such a great environment.

So far this trip is UNBELIEVABLE. Visited the Fieldhouse this morning and did a walk up tour so got some good pictures by the floor. While My son and I were looking at the Naismith rules an older gentleman and his wife approached us.
He then told my son “that’s my granddaddy”. It was in fact Jim Naismith, James’ grandson. Crazy! Then before we left the Fieldhouse we actually ran into Dok(e) and my son got a picture! We still have the game to look forward to!

After this weekend, if one of these two men win the title, that man will be labeled the best coach in college basketball. If its Jay Wright it’s because he is perceived to have ushered in “small ball” to college basketball and won 2 championships in 3 years. If its coach Self then a second championship validates his insane regular season record over the last 15 years at Kansas.

The are both in their mid 50s and will probably reign another 10 years. Izzo has had his media darling image tainted with all the MSU issues and he hasn’t succeeded lately in the tournament. K and Roy are both in their twilight years.

All of this is just media fodder, but it can define the perception to casual college basketball fans. However I would suspect that just like us, Villanova, Kentucky, Duke, UNC, and Michigan St, wouldn’t trade their coach for any of the others regardless of perception.

Bosthawk said:

I’m worried about all the self-can’t-get-past-elite-8 posts coming if we do lose. Should be a tough tough game. And yep if we hit our shots, we should be

But So far, This has been a great season, let’s face it! Win or lose, been a great ride for me at least.

This is what REALLY REALLY pisses me off. In coach Ks 34 years has he once developed a 3 star player? Has he ever not had the most talent? He has NEVER had a season where he didn’t land a McDonald’s All American. He is now the biggest one and done guy. In the past 16 seasons Duke has been either a 1 or 2 seed 12 times yet only made it past the sweet sixteen FOUR times. Despite all this talent EVERY year he never gets called out for “choking”.

Bill Self has just developed back to back 3/4 star high school guys into first team all Americans. He ROUTINELY does more with less. The fact that he completely maximizes the talent almost always means a tournament “upset” will happen because Kansas earns seed beyond their talent. VIrginia did the same thing this year. Yes the accomplished things to be a 1 seed but at the end of the day their talent(not a single nba guy) isnt really 1 seed quality.

I know most here hate Kentucky the most. I don’t have enough hate left for anyone after Duke.

Rock Chalk

I want to exorcise all the demons…

• Beat an 11 seed in Elite 8… avenge VCU

• Beat Nova in Final Four… Stick it to Jay Wright

• Beat Duke in the Final… avenge 1991 and send K out a loser

@nuleafjhawk My 11-year-old son was on the verge of tears and acting like a punk at halftime. I told him to stop or he was headed to bed. Man that would suck to have gone to bed at halftime!!!

• Coach K’s first final four-game in 1986 beat Kansas
• Coach K’s first championship in 1991 beat Kansas
• Coach K’s last game LOSES championship to Kansas!!!

This is a MASSIVE low point for me with this transfer/NIL stuff. If it is like this yearly I’m going to have a real hard time watching this.

Was a great game to be at!!

My son and I made a last minute trip from Ohio for this game. Our first time back since 2020 senior night. It was an awesome night in the fieldhouse. Such a great environment.

@dylans said in Furphy:

That NBA teams think he is ready surprises me. Furphy absolutely sucked in the second half of pretty much every game he played at KU.

While Furphy at times completely outclassed the entire roster, if he truly leaves he will be the least accomplished OAD in KU history. Furphy helped KU to its worse record since they were on probation in 1989 and he did absolutely nothing at an elite level. I’d love to watch him continue to develop at KU, but if he’s going to go pro I wish him the best in Europe or wherever he ends up.

The NBA draft is like the MLB draft now. It is all based on potential, not what they are currently.

As far as the “the least accomplished OAD in KU history” , Cheick Diallo will never be matched!

KJ somewhat reminds me of a more athletic Darnell Jackson. Self loves those type of guys no matter their non-fit to the modern game.

Big 12 is a step up from the Summit League. We had high hopes for Timberlake as well. People that look at shooting percentage and assume it translates, have never played the game. Every level change is an increase in game speed. Being sped up ruins the flow you are used to in your shot. I’d bet only the special ones can make the jump in levels seamlessly in one season. Let’s hope Mayo can!

@kjayhawks said in Sams club game chat:

@mayjay I’m still mad we played UCLA in California in 2007.

I bitch about that at least 2x a year!

I thought UNC got screwed this year. Arizona is the 2 in the west.

I love everything Juan has done for KU but 5 years is too much. Imagine Tyshawn Taylor getting a 5th year. It would be more of the same. But he is one of Self’s favorites so he’s not going anywhere.

Lets Goooooooooooooooooo

@kjayhawks said in BYU Thread:

@BeddieKU23 I’m gonna ask a Honest question here, is this Bill Selfs worst coaching job? This team has 2 all-Americans likely, 3 draft hopefuls and a Cousy award finalist. In 2019 we had no talent and 2015 we had super young talent. I think this team may end up worse than those 2, tho on paper should beat those teams by 25 points.

What has always made Self’s “bad talent” teams still win was the continuity of players in the program who learned to play defense. Even if a guy wasn’t that talented on offense by the time he saw significant playing time he was already molded by Self and co. to bring it on the defensive end and understand team defense. Like Self has always said, “You have to be able to win games while not hitting shots”. Four players(Hunter, Timberlake, Furphy, Elmarko) have played significant playing time this year are first-year guys at Kansas. Add that to the lack of a consistent three ball on offense and this is the result.

It’s time…and maybe this lights a fire in Elmarko. ZERO shot attempts in a road conference game was unacceptable.