KANSAS JAYHAWKS - IT'S BUSINESS TIME

Fuck it, We're out

2009-01-29T17:21:00.005-06:00

Well, it has been a wild year and ~4 months here at KJ-IBT but we must mosey on to greener pastures. Days spent killing time reading about NCAA and Orange Bowl championships will be over at this address, but fear not as we have moved over to OreadBoomKings.com to continue to provide mullets, boobs, hot toddys, occasional basketball and football commentary and of course more mullets. To quote Ali G, "This is going to be like 60 Minutes, but just with more sex."

Thank you to those brave few who have been with us since the beginning and be sure to switch your bookmarks to our new address as we obviously won't be posting here anymore. We would also like to thank the guys at Barking Carnival for showing us the gratitude and webspace to be part of their blog network(also featuring Atomic Teeth and The Tortilla Retort). The wrap it up sign is blinking, we'll let Scarface take us out....

Holy Shit

2009-01-29T15:03:00.005-06:00

This never really happened...it is a figment of your other-wordly imagination. Courtesy of Rock M Nation. At least the girl in the video is pretty hot, that is something right?

Nebraska React: Two Games In One

2009-01-28T22:12:00.003-06:00

Well, that was a tale of two halves to the fullest extent. In our preview, we highlighted four keys; two with the ball and two when guarding it. The first defensive key was to keep the feet moving. This was a huge failure for the first ten minutes as we looked disinterested, but it was also the first thing we fixed and as big a reason as anything that we were able to fight back and get the win. Secondly, we mentioned the need to box out. Numbers may not always tell the story, but in this case they’re emphatic. First half rebounding: NU 13 – KU 12. Second half rebounding: NU 5 – KU 25. They’re not absolved of blame for their first half effort, but they also deserve credit for coming back and dominating in the second stanza.

Offensively, our first key was to work through the post. In the first half, Cole was 0-1 for 0 points and 0 rebounds. And if memory serves, he touched the ball no more than five total times. Credit Nebraska for flustering him and taking away the angles on entry passes, but that is just pitiful. Quite simply, Nebraska sped them up and they took themselves out of their own offense by being impatient. The second key was to be smart with the ball. 21 turnovers and 6 assists should tell you all you need to know there; not to mention the ridiculous ball security we showed on a couple late possessions letting them make it a tighter ending than it should have been.

So needless to say, it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it played out exactly how Nebraska had it scripted for a win – get a big early lead, get the crowd hyped up and put the pressure on us to find a way to win an ugly, low-scoring battle. And that’s exactly what we did. For a team this young to come back from 13 down, on the road, with your two stars in foul trouble, says a whole lot about their makeup and fortitude. There have been several wins that said more about our ability to be a good team, but none said more about our ability to win. Long story short, two to three weeks ago we do not win that game. This team is making a lot of progress.

Sherron Collins
Tough to grade him out in this one because aside from a 90 second stretch in the first half and knocking down all his free throws late, he never looked like Sherron. 6-11 for 17 points is nice, though we really needed him to do a bit more in this one and for some reason it wasn’t there. The three turnovers and 0 assists were terrible, but when it came down to it, he kept us in the game in the first half and closed it out in the second – that’s what you need from your star.

Cole Aldrich
Much like the keys above, Cole played two different games each half. After posting goose eggs in the first while picking up two fouls, Cole came back in the second and controlled things for us with 8 points and 8 boards – his first game of the year not hitting double-digit scoring. He was clearly bothered early and he still should have done more in the second, but at least he stepped up when we need him the most. Go figure, tallest guy on the floor plays the smallest team in the country and it’s his first game in single digit scoring and first without a block since Christmas.

Tyshawn Taylor
Like those above, I had a tough time evaluating Tyshawn. His help defense was horrible, though he was pretty good on ball. He came in a grabbed 4 boards. And he did some nice things offensively (6 points & 3 assists), yet he also turned it over 6 times - a couple of which led directly to easy points & took two very ill-advised threes early on in the first half. Not his best game, but does deserve credit for his perimeter defense.

Brady Morningstar
Took 1 bad shot and had 2 bad turnovers. The rest was typical Brady. Knocked down 2 threes (out of 3) on his way to 11 points and came up with 5 boards as well. And of course, his defense was fantastic. The Huskers were 7-24 (29%) from deep; 2 of which came late from Henry and 1 unexpectedly from Dagunduro. Take those out to really analyze our perimeter defense and they were 4-21 (19%). Brady was the primary reason.

Tyrel Reed
His atrocious late turnover aside, Tyrel was great. His defense, especially when he was on Velander was excellent, never allowing a clean look. And as he’s been doing lately, he knocked down two huge threes right as we were trying to separate midway through the second.

Mario Little
The biggest thing to take away from tonight was him playing 30 minutes (previous high was 14). It wasn't quite what we’ve come to expect from him offensively (2-6 for 4 points) and he looked a little indecisive, but he also dished out a couple of assists from the high post and grabbed 7 rebounds (2 offensive). His defense on Dagunduro wasn’t very good at all, but he’s still getting acclimated on that side of the court and isn’t near quick enough on that leg to guard someone that athletic.

Marcus Morris
7 minutes, 5 points and an offensive board. But what he deserves credit for is stepping up and knocking down 3-4 free throws when we needed them most. He’s really struggled there this year and those points were huge, especially at the time.

Travis Releford & Markieff Morris
The unsung heroes of the night. When we weren’t getting anything from the 4 early on Travis came in and in only 6 minutes gave us 3 boards, solid defense and 5 points – 2 of which came in the closing seconds of the half to take some momentum into the locker room. And Markieff came into the second fired up, and gave us 5 points (3-4 from the line), 5 rebounds (3 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers and only 1 foul. Without either of these efforts, we don’t win this game and both players can use this going forward as they showed a lot tonight.

Coaching
Part of me wants to blame Bill for not having them ready from the start and for the schematic lapses on both ends of the floor early on. But even if all that falls on him (which it shouldn’t), he still pushed enough of the right buttons early on to get them back in the game. And more importantly, he made the necessary adjustments at the break, got his message across and they turned a thirteen point deficit into a 6 point win on the road, against an exceptional defensive team. As ugly as it was to watch, that really was an exceptional win for this young team and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Put it this way..For a team that has trouble on the road, we have three conference road wins; the rest of the North has 2. And our closest Northern competitor went on the road for the second time in the division tonight and, just like the first time, they shit the bed. What was that about good defense? I know that's what comes to mind when I see that a poor shooting K-State team shot 53% and scored 88 points (the third straight game of allowing 86+).

What did you think?

Nebraska Pre-game

2009-01-28T12:49:00.004-06:00

As you all know, tonight the Hawks head to Lincoln to take on Doc Sadler's Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Devaney Center. The first part of that sentence may not mean much to you, but the final two words should. Over the series history we have completely dominated the Huskers, much like they have done to us in football. However, whereas we have evened the playing field lately on the gridiron, the games indoors have become much less competitive with us pulverizing them over the last five years – winning 11 straight and 20 of 21 (though that one was an embarrassing loss up there). But Sherron has contributed to that, with Matt Kleinmann having the second most career points against the Huskers – with 8. And even with all that domination of late, we still only take a 16-16 Devaney Center record into this game. Knowing that and of the pesky defense Sadler will have them playing, this will not be an easy game.

Frontcourt
Having surely read our mini-preview a few weeks back, you know that Nebraska lacks what is commonly referred to as size. On the season, the only guy above 6'6" that's consistently seen the court is Chris Balham (6'8") – and even he only gets about 10 minutes an outing. Quite frankly, Balham isn't that good. He was solid in high school because of his size and athleticism, but it hasn't yet translated to this level and for the year he accounts for 2 points & 2 boards a night. So without a big to rely on, Doc will usually use a trio of guys down low. The first, and best is Ade Dagunduro (6'5"). Ade is really just an athletic wing – without a shot – that's stuck playing down low, but he will create some matchup problems for us defensively and for the year has come up with about 11 points and 4 boards a game. Freshman Toney McCray (6'6") is their tallest guy playing over 10 minutes – and much like Dagunduro he's horribly out of position defensively and will only score facing up, or driving by a slower big. And lastly, is Ryan Anderson (6'4"), who is a bit of an enigma. He came to them as an outside shooter, but that has gradually deteriorated over time – though his frequency of taking them has not. On the year, he's averaging 6 & 5 to lead the team in rebounding.

(Note: The one caveat to this is if Brian Diaz (6'11") plays tonight, as could happen. Diaz was recently admitted to school after meeting their English speaking requirements and has begun practicing with the team, though he has yet to play and can elect to retain his redshirt in order to preserve himself a full season. Him playing would certainly be a boost, though I'm not sure of the effect it would really have as they've barely played with him and he's likely nowhere near game shape. If he were to play, I'd predict no more than ten minutes and no less than 2 fouls, but I know nothing about this guy, so I won't pretend to.)

Backcourt
Despite who they're guarding, nearly everyone is a backcourt player. Cookie Miller (5'7") is their primary distributor, and he's a decent one. Quick and shifty, Miller racks up over 4 assists per game and takes pretty good care of the ball with a near 2:1 A:TO ratio. It will be important to keep him out of the lane. Steve Harley may be their best all-around guy because of the effort he gives and his quickness with the ball. He only hits 1/3 of his outside shots, so we should give him some space as he's looking to blow by and mix it up on the inside – which is where he gets most of his team leading 12 points and nearly 4 boards. The final two pieces are Sek Henry and Paul Velander. Henry comes up with 9 & 3 and needs to always be defended, but there's not one thing he does very well. Velander, needs to be watched like a hawk. Enter Brady. Both Henry and Anderson will shoot a couple, but Velander is their only real three point threat on a consistent basis. And quite a threat he is, last I checked, leading the nation at over 47% on 104 attempts. For the year, he's shot 9 two-point FGs, 2 of them coming in league play – so it's not a difficult scouting report.

Defensive Keys…

1. Keep the feet moving. Whether it's Brady chasing Velander, Tyshawn trying to stay in front of Harley or whoever we have on Dagunduro, we have to keep them in front. A few of them can hit the three, but only Velander is going to hurt us from out there. The rest simply employ proper spacing and try to get by their man. Our primary advantage in this game is Cole and we can't be putting him at risk of foul trouble by having to defend a tiny driving guard every play. Make this team shoot jump shots and they won't score.

2. Box out. For a team that really doesn't do much of this, we win the rebounding battle more games than I'd think. However, that's usually based on our athleticism and having bigs around the basket. With the Huskers spacing us out and relying on quickness, it will be important to actually get a body on them when the shot goes up or there's a good chance they could beat us to the ball. This isn't a great shooting team and our size should make it tough on them, but too often even when we play good first shot defense, we let teams get an easy one by stealing an extra possession. That shouldn't happen tonight.

Offensive Keys…

1. Work through the post. Cole is our primary advantage, but Mario, the Morris' and even Quintrell have a size advantage as well. They'll be clogging this space, trying to deny entry passes and converging on the catch – but it's still something we need to try and exploit. This means posting hard and on the block from the bigs and getting the passes up where they can do something with it on the catch. Whether this means shooting over the top or kicking out to an open shooter, they need to keep the ball high.

2. Be smart with the ball. This key is two-fold. First, the Bugeaters play very tough, pressure defense. Lately, we've handled that much better and limited our turnovers (save a couple stretches), which has led to some pretty high scoring games. Tonight might not be high scoring, but if we handle the ball well and get it where it needs to be, we have a tremendous advantage on the offensive end. The second part is our shot selection. If we're working through the post properly, we're likely to have a whole lot of open looks from the outside. To start, the big needs to recognize when he has a good look and when he needs to kick it out. From there, guards need to step up and make shots, or swing to the open man, because Nebraska is very good rotating out of their double teams. If they make you prove you can hit it, knock it down. If they close out hard, pump fake and go right by for a closer look, but always be willing to take what they give you and make them pay for their decision.

This is likely going to be a very well contested game that is good for our guys either way. If we utilize our advantage properly, there is no reason we shouldn't come out with a win, but the Huskers shouldn't be underestimated and if we let them slow it to a crawl, they'll just gain more confidence as it goes along. We need to match their intensity from the start, exploit their lack of size and retain focus throughout. This is the kind of win that really separates a team from the pack and is an absolute necessity if they want to win the league. From what I'm told, they do. Rock Chalk!

Happy Mullet Wednesday!

2009-01-28T08:10:00.004-06:00

There will be no forgetting Mullet Wednesday this week. And a happy one it is, what with the Jayhawks playing on The Deuce this evening. But until then (6:30 CST), enjoy this fascinating picture on an enormous troll that clearly lives by the credo of "Business in the front. Party in the back." I mean, is there any doubt that he won this court case? Just look how much more sophisticated and prepared he looks than his counterpart with the widow's peak and poneytail. Forget about it.

Big XII Rankings: Week 3

2009-01-26T22:24:00.002-06:00

So, Travis Ford, you want to play fast and let your skill players get up and down the court and take a lot of shots? That's all well and good. In fact, it works really well when you have a team full of great players. Just ask North Carolina. But if I could offer one small piece of advice going forward, it would be to try and find a way to not get out-rebounded by a single player. Seriously: Blake Griffin had 19 boards to 16 for the Cowboys. He is a great player and you have a small team, but that is pathetic. Just a thought, so take from it what you will.

1. Oklahoma (20-1, 6-0). Last week was another undefeated one for the Sooners, who are now starting to build a resume for a number 1 seed. Which should tell you all you need to know about the elite teams in college basketball this year and even more about the Big XII – considering they are well separated from the pack at this point. That was a real nice destruction of Baylor, however. My biggest worries for them are that: 1) Austin Johnson can’t continue to shoot 50% from three; and 2) Their lack of depth will either wear on them physically or be a big issue if they ever get into foul trouble in a one-game scenario – you know, like the NCAA tournament. (Previous:1)
This week: Won @ OSU 89-81, Saturday @ Iowa State

2. Texas (14-4, 3-1). Not much has changed since we last discussed the Longhorns, except that they took care of the Aggies in Austin over the weekend. Damion James led the way with 28, Johnson added 15 and it added up to a pretty mediocre 9 point win. I guess it’s a rivalry game, but that win really did nothing for me. A win tomorrow night in Waco, on the other hand, would be a real nice notch on the belt. (2)
This Week: Tuesday @ Baylor, Saturday v. K-State

3. Kansas (15-4, 4-0). Despite allowing Brackins to get 42, the Jayhawks went in to Ames and emerged with a 15 point win. No small feat, considering there is a 100% correlation between that happening and them winning the Big XII. I’m not ready to put them over Texas if for no other reason than experience, because neither has yet to beat a top half team in league play. (4)
This week: Wednesday @ Nebraska, Saturday v. Colorado

4. Baylor (15-4, 3-2). Sure, they flopped in Norman on Saturday, but they also had a nice showing in Manhattan earlier in the week. And while they’re getting killed for the former, they didn’t get much credit for the latter. As I’ve said all year long (not exactly an original thought), at some point the Bears are going to have to play defense if they want to compete for the league this or any other year. So far, they have not. With the week ahead, they better figure it out quickly. (3)
This week: Tuesday v. Texas, Saturday @ Missouri

5. Missouri (17-3, 4-1). Another undefeated week for the Tigers came about with a great win in Stillwater and a much less impressive one over Tech at home. In both, they scored 97 points. However, they allowed 95 and 86. 86 points to Tech, really? But wins are wins and right now Missouri is winning big by making teams play their way. You have to wonder what will happen when they have to get a score or a stop in the half court though, because they’ve never really demonstrated the ability to do either. (6)
This week: Wednesday @ K-State, Saturday v. Baylor

6. Oklahoma State (13-6, 2-3). In a complete reversal from a year ago, they find a way to make every game exciting this season. Unfortunately, for them, they’re losing more than they’re winning. They got a couple bad breaks, first in Waco and then on their home court (worst call ever) and followed that up with a solid road win in Lincoln. And tonight, well, they just couldn’t get over the hump. They feel like a tourney team, but sooner or later they need to start winning some of these and having two home losses already isn’t helping things. (5)
This week: Lost to Oklahoma 89-81, Saturday @ Texas A&M

7. Texas A&M (15-5, 1-4). After an incredibly tough start to league play, they now get to stay home for a week and they absolutely must win both. Right now, this team simply doesn’t have an identity. They’re not great on the perimeter, they’re inconsistent inside and really, they aren’t the defensive team I expected. The post-season is still within their reach, but not unless they figure some things out in short order. (7)
This week: Wednesday v. Tech, Saturday v. OSU

8. Nebraska (12-6, 2-3). Tough week for the Huskers, losing a close one in Norman and then in OT to the Pokes back in Lincoln. The defense and effort are definitely there, but the talent and height are not. Unfortunately, the first two will only get you so far without the others. (8)
This week: Wednesday v. Kansas, Saturday @ Tech

9. K-State (12-7, 1-4). After that horrific collapse in Boulder, I should probably move them down. But then who moves ahead? So they keep this spot by default for now and they’ll have a chance to earn if with a win on Wednesday. (9)
This week: Wednesday v. Missouri, Saturday @ Texas

10. Iowa State (12-7, 1-3). Well, Brackins certainly didn’t disappoint. But then there was everyone else. And that’s likely to be the story for the rest of the year. (10)
This week: Tuesday @ Colorado, Saturday v. Oklahoma

11. Texas Tech (11-8, 1-3). I considered bumping them up for keeping it close in Columbia, but didn’t simply because I think on a neutral court Brackins could beat them. (11)
This week: Wednesday @ A&M, Saturday v. Nebraska

12. Colorado (8-10, 0-4). How do you not close out K-State in overtime, at home, with all the momentum on your side? Because of that incompetence, if their winless streak extends one more game, it just might run through the rest of the season. Seriously. (12)
This week: Tuesday v. Iowa State, Saturday @ Kansas

Good Sign

2009-01-26T10:12:00.003-06:00

I was perusing the KC Star this morning and came across this interesting piece. It's a couple days old, but I missed it over the weekend, and even more surprisingly, had never heard of this stat in years prior. In the 12 years since the inception of the Big XII, Kansas has won the league 8 times. This much, we all knew. But what came as news to me is that in every one of those years, Kansas won in Ames. In the four seasons we didn't win the league, we also couldn't win in Ames.

As you all know, the Jayhawks handed the Cyclones a 15 point loss on Saturday in Hilton Coliseum. I like.

Iowa State Post-game

2009-01-24T17:19:00.002-06:00

It wasn’t always pretty, but the young Jayhawks emerged from Hilton Coliseum with their second straight road win moving their mark to 4-0 in the Big XII with a trip to Lincoln awaiting. The keys were pretty simple and they were able to ring the bell on all but one. Let’s just get that out of the way first.

1. Make Craig Brackins work. I didn’t expect us to pass this test and we most definitely did not. 11-19 shooting for 42 points and 14 boards. As you may have noticed, 11 makes won’t get you to 42 points so he also made a living at the line hitting 17 of his 21 attempts. The foul disparity* in this one was a disgrace and Brackins was the primary recipient. He really was on fire today though and for that, he deserves a gratuitous tip of the cap, but we didn’t defend him like we need to and I always have to shake my head when one guy shoots three more free throws than the other team combined – especially when that team shot a few of their free throws late due to intentional fouls.

2. Keep Diante Garrett on the perimeter. Passed with flying colors. He got into the lane and got fouled once, but he was frustrated all day and didn’t register a single FG. He did have 4 assists, but he also turned it over four times – and if I remember correctly, I think a few of those assists were basic ball movement passes to Brackins, and he took care of the rest. This game was won on account of our excellent perimeter defense and that all started with how we frustrated Garrett.

3. Keep an eye on the arc. Another bravo. Brackins was 3/5, but his three makes represented half of their total and 1 of them came in the last 2 minutes. Vanderbeken was 2/8, Boozer, Haluska & Peterson each missed their lone attempt, Garrett was 0/3 and Staiger was 1/7 with him being the late make. Just as he’s done all year, Brady trailed him all over the court, slid past screens and never let him get much space. As was on perfect display today, no matter what Brackins did, this team was going to have to hit a lot of threes to beat us and our fantastic perimeter defense prevented that from happening. A job very well done.

Offensively, we didn’t do anything special – but we kept attacking, didn’t turn it over very often and ultimately, just knocked down shots. That last part is becoming quite a theme with this team – and the opposite has been true for their opponents. In all four league games, we’ve shot over 50% while holding our opponent under 40%. That’s a beautiful recipe for winning and the biggest reason we’ve yet to drop a Big XII contest (see below). Factor in us winning the rebounding battle (+8) and no matter what Brackins did, there was just no way we were going to lose this game.

KU 58% KSU 39% (+19)
KU 61% KSU 37% (+24)
KU 51% A&M 33% (+18)
KU 51% ISU 35% (+16)

I would do grades, but really, I think everyone without the last name Morris deserves a gold star today so there’s not much point. Sherron brought us out on fire and even after cooling off, he still ended up with 26 points, 5 assists and 4 boards. Cole was pretty much the opposite, struggling in the first half and taking over the second to finish with another ho-hum 16 & 12 with a couple blocks. Tyshawn didn’t shoot it quite as well as he’d like (3-10), but he played great defense on Garrett and still got to 10 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. We already talked about Brady’s defense, but he also pitched in 9 points, 3 boards, 3 assists and didn’t turn it over. Similarly, Tyrel played better defense than we’ve become accustomed to and also added an efficient 10 points, 2 boards, an assist and no turnovers. Mario Little also came off the bench to add a nice little spark, giving us 8 points (4-4), a board and a steal in 12 minutes.

And then there’s Quintrell Thomas. As you may remember, I’m a little worried about us retaining Quintrell due to his lack of PT right now and possibly into the future. And on a day when neither Morris could get anything going (combined for 2 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, 5 turnovers & 8 fouls) Quintrell came in and gave us some good minutes. His defense on Brackins wasn’t much better than theirs, but he did pull down 4 big rebounds in his time on the floor. Long story short, it’s very good to see that he’s still working hard enough to deserve some time and that he was ready to contribute when called upon. I remain very optimistic about his ability to help this team out now and in the future and I hope today reaffirmed that to him as well.

We may have to play better to get another win on Wednesday, but this was a very solid road win. Brackins scored over 60% of their total points, but we played excellent defense on everyone else. Perhaps even more impressive was the way in which we scored 82 points – the most they’ve allowed this year. We didn’t always look in sync and we never really got a ton going in transition, but we kept executing, stuck to our game plan and knocked down most of our open looks. To go into that building, against a good defensive team and have no trouble putting up that kind of number is no small feat and deserves plenty of recognition. This team is really coming together as everyone has started settling into their roles and they look ready to compete for another conference title.

* Note: Late in the game, Cameron Lee was inserted to foul 5 times in a minute because at the time Iowa State was shooting the double bonus, while having only been called for 2 fouls in the 18 minutes of the half to that point.

Iowa State Keys to Victory

2009-01-23T11:17:00.005-06:00

For a quick scouting report on the Cyclones, see here.

So how does that translate into a Kansas victory tomorrow? Three things need to happen.

1. Make Craig Brackins work. At heart, he's a very skilled big man that will fall in love with his 15 footer if he's getting banged around down low. Unfortunately, we're not really a beat you up kind of team and he has greatly improved his inside game from a year ago. Not only will he beat you facing up, but he can take you off the dribble and even get some work done with his back to the basket. He's as NBA ready as anyone on our roster and unfortunately, is going to be matched up against our least intelligent players(i.e. Morris twins). Don't get me wrong, they'll be able to score some on him too, but as far as defending hard without getting into foul trouble and keeping him off the boards, I'm not overly optimistic.

I anticipate we'll double him some as Cole should be able to help off Hamilton and Thompson without risking too much. What I don't want to see is doubling down from the perimeter and allowing easy kick outs to one of their many shooters and letting one (or more) get on a roll.

2. Keep Diante Garrett on the perimeter. He's by no means a bad outside shooter, but he's not going to kill you from there. And more importantly, if he's out there, he's not drawing help and kicking out to much deadlier shooters. Brackins is unquestionably their best player, but Garrett is who makes the offense work. 11 points, 5 assists and 4 boards is pretty productive from the point guard spot and at 6'4" he has a size advantage on almost every guy he faces.

My guess is we'll start with Tyshawn on him, but I'm not sure that can last. He's shown the ability to shut down scorers before, but he doesn't always get low enough or move his feat well enough to stay in front of a guy like Garrett. If he can, great. If not, we'll reluctantly go with Sherron and just risk the foul trouble. Garrett only shoots 4 FTs a game, so he's not one to constantly draw contact, but if he's on he can get into the lane and then knock 'em down from the stripe.

3. Keep an eye on the arc. Like any mid-major does, the Cyclones love the three ball. 385 of their 984 field goal attempts have been from three – equating to just over 39%. For reference, ours is right at 30%. And a team like Missouri that's designed to shoot a lot of them is just under 33%. So Iowa State loves the three ball – and they go through about 36% of the time so they're not just chucking and hoping for the best. If you leave them open, they'll make you pay.

The primary threat is their German, Lucca Staiger. He's shot 110 of them (82% of his shots) and converted nearly 43% of the time. The obvious defense here is to have Brady chase him around, slip past screens and deny him the ball. He's been able to do it against much better athletes in Budinger and Carter, so I like to think he'll be up to the task. What I worry about is how Tyrel does when Brady is getting a breather. The other starter that can hurt you is Bryan Peterson. He doesn't shoot quite as many (78) and he doesn't convert them as often (35%) – but they still account for over 80% of his total shots. Off the bench, they have Eikmeier (33%), Haluska (35%) and Vanderbeken (40%). The first two are identical and will just run around out there. Vanderbeken is 6'11" and will kind of drift out, but certainly shouldn't be ignored because he can knock them down.

If the Hawks can do these three things defensively, they'll control this game and the Cyclones won't ever be able to get much going on this end of the floor. Offensively, we should expect to go through some lulls and obviously they'll be slowing the pace down on both ends of the floor – probably only sending one or two to the offensive glass so the rest can get back in transition. True, they haven't played a plethora of great teams, but they've only been blown out once (@ Missouri) and even then, the high scoring Tigers only reached 77 points after being held to 29 in the first half. So we're not going to have our way entirely and we'll need to stay within our offense to make sure we're as efficient as possible, because we're not going to see much man-to-man tomorrow.

This means constant movement, good solid (non-moving) screens, finding Cole, and most importantly, getting the ball in the middle of their zone. I'm sure the Cyclones will try to deny Cole touches as everyone does, but we need to make smart entry passes and let him dominate as much as possible. Hamilton may have the size to match up, but he doesn't have the wherewithal and I'd be shocked if they ever had Brackins on him in a man setting. A big part of even getting Cole in position where he can do some damage though is finding the soft spot of the zone. From there, we need to knock down a shot, toss it over to Cole or kick it out to shooters - this is an area that I think suits Mario Little perfectly. The final piece of that puzzle would entail knocking down the shots, which sometimes can be tricky with that Hilton Magic shit they've got going on over there. We've won there 4 straight times, but never by more than 10 points ('05-'06), so this would be a great win for the young Hawks.

Bradley McDougald

2009-01-23T08:29:00.004-06:00

Just a quick update here. You may have noticed the snippet in yesterday's links stating that we got a commitment from him and we directed you to his rivals page. However, last night the article was taken down due to privacy issues. But according to the JayhawkSlant moderator, via Rock Chalk Talk, he is still firmly committed. And as you may or may not know, despite him being listed as the 11th best safety prospect nationally he's actually been slotted for offense - reportedly RB.

On that same note DJ Beshears is being projected as a DB instead of WR, as he's listed.

Quintrell Thomas

2009-01-22T20:09:00.001-06:00

Coming in he was touted as a more developed Darnell Jackson. And while that’s still on the table, I can’t shake the feeling that he may be the next Micah Downs, as much as it pertains to Kansas. I don’t mean that as in insult to Quintrell, but in the sense that Downs simply 1) didn’t fit Bill’s mold; & 2) knew he wasn’t unseating Brandon Rush. I personally believe that Quintrell does fit Bill’s style, but the second aspect makes me a little uneasy.

Quintrell came to us as an all-state and all-county player from New Jersey. He was also the MVP of his high school team – one that won the state championship in New Jersey and was ranked #2 nationally by USAToday. So despite being pretty raw, he comes in having been used to not only playing time but the accolades that come with success. This is by no means anything new for a highly touted freshman to have trouble adjusting to the D-I level, but there are other factors at work here. Primarily, personnel.

With any luck we’ll keep Cole around for one more year, but two is pushing it so I don’t look at him as an obstacle as Quintrell would still have at least two years of eligibility remaining. The Morris twins are a different story as both have clearly separated themselves from Quintrell; and as you all know, they’re freshmen as well. Furthermore, neither look like they’ll be bolting anytime soon for the league – maybe after their junior year, but not before. Factor in Thomas Robinson next year – who Self calls the best rebounder he’s ever recruited – and there’s a good chance Quintrell will be looking up at 3 guys his age or younger.

Now, obviously he has the ability & opportunity to unseat everyone I’ve mentioned not named Cole Aldrich. The twins are further along right now and Robinson comes in highly touted, but Bill didn’t recruit Quintrell for nothing. He too came in rated extremely high – and though I put very little stock into those rankings, I mostly agreed with his from what I’d seen. I watched him play on a couple of occasions and each time I saw a guy who hustled on every play, found his way to the ball and attacked the rim. In other words, he was exactly the kind of guy you want on your team even if he had a lot to work on to become a complete player.

So what do you think? Does anyone have any insight on this? Has Quintrell been working hard in practice to reclaim the time he thought he’d be getting? Or is he just being brought along with the thought of really contributing down the road? Or, are my fears legitimate and he’s starting to question if he made the right decision coming all the way from Jersey to the middle of the country, only to end up on the bench? The optimist in me likes to believe he sees the bigger picture, because I think he has the demeanor and skill set to really develop and help out at some point (in fact, I wonder if he shouldn’t be getting more minutes now – but that’s beside the point) either next year or certainly by the time he’s a junior.

Afternoon Hotlinks

2009-01-22T14:19:00.013-06:00

It has been out for a little while now, but congratulations to the Women of KU Calender for once again providing about 3 incredibly faptastic young ladies, while the other 9 would not be in the top 20% in bonability at KU.

**Quick update** Rivals is reporting that Kansas landed Bradley McDougald today - a 4 star safety out of Ohio and the eleventh best safety prospect in the nation. Yippee!

Rivals way too early to say top 25 has KU at 16.

Scout's 100 Best Players for '09. Reesing 4th best QB and and #9 overall(high praise indeed.) Only the the 3 Heisman candidates are in front of him at QB. Briscoe 7th best receiver and #77 overall. If he stays healthy, I think the nation will see it differently by the end of the year. How the hell is Decker ahead of him?

Tim Griffin has an article on KU's recruiting needs. Though he missed Springer at LB coming off an injury, he should be our most talented LB(though maybe Wright has something to say about that.) Dudley and Quigley should be in the rotation as well, we can also hope on some help from true frosh Julian Jones or Jacoby Thomas. I am unsure of what Dakota Lewis will add for us though(other than special teams) given his safety size at 6'1" 201 lbs. The article seems to miss the point that hopefully we had addressed most of our shortcomings with our recruiting last year. However, hopefully we are developing depth. Also amazing that he failed to mention our need for DEs and how Mangino is recruiting hard for impact players to step in and play right away.

The Topeka Capitol Journal has two good, in-depth articles centering on the state of KSU athletics and Wefald meddling too much in to the athletics department. It is a must read and I encourage you all to realize just how good we have it as fans of KU. Hope we can find another president who lets Lew be Lew and work his magic.

In other K-State news, they are now 0-4 in conference and let Lacedarius Dunn hit 9 3's last night. Even though the scouting report had recognized him as one of the main cogs in the Baylor offense. From the article:

Dunn finished the first half with four treys. You’d have thought he’d have the Wildcats’ attention. But K-State lost him again in the second half when, once again, he buried three-pointers on three straight possessions.

“I was really surprised,” Dunn said. “They kept the same defense.”

Pretty much every 3-point statistic is down this year in college basketball. Interesting that makes, attempts and percentage were all at an alltime high last year. In case you wanted to know(be honest, you d0) KU is at 17.4 attempts per game, ~6.6 makes per game and is 37.6% from 3-point range. Damn you Connor Teahan, 2 of 16 beyond the arc?

A few random links: Colin Cowherd is an ass. I have never really understood who listens to this guy regularly anyway. I'll catch him from time to time, if I have nothing better to do, but I am not making a point everyday. Pretty weak feud, but I like that they are fighting the good fight and continue to call him out on his douchebaggery.

Michigan hires Greg Robinson as defensive coordinator. A day old, but I still feel it deserves a mention. How does this guy continue to garner the respect to be handed these coushy, big-time jobs? Just amazing, good luck with that RichRod.

I know what you all are thinking, what does Pat Forde think of the Self/Wall issue/non-issue? From his chat:

Will J (Portland, OR): What do you make of the possible minor (recruiting)infraction by Bill Self? I think sometimes, these small allegations a little ridiculous.

Pat Forde: Will: I don't think it's ridiculous, no. And I guarantee, neither does John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski, Ernie Kent or any other coach in the hunt to get John Wall. Self broke a rule that he knew perfectly well and did it in a brazen manner. I hope the NCAA takes a good look at that, and at Kansas' recruitment of Wall.

I know I am not the least bit surprised that he feels this way(he is totally unbiased, MU J-School #1 foeva!!!11!.) Even though much more respected basketball analysts Doug Gottlieb and Gary Parrish have pretty much said "it is nothing."

****UPDATE****: The Big Lead has a post up concerning the "incident."

Happy (belated) Mullet Wednesday!

2009-01-22T10:04:00.004-06:00

All those worthless posts yesterday and I didn't provide a single mullet. This whole 4 day week has my all discombobulated and for that, I aplogize. As retribution, I offer you this...thing. Does it have really have a mullet? I think so, but reasonable minds can differ. If your insatiable desire has still not been quenched, please direct your attention here. It was a Happy Mullet Wednesday, indeed, and I hope you enjoyed it even without your weekly pictoral being delivered on time.

About last night...

2009-01-22T08:10:00.006-06:00

There were three Big XII games on TV last night and all of them were worth watching for one reason or another.

Baylor 83 K-State 65
This one got away from Frank's team early and they never recovered. Now at 0-4 in the league, they HAVE to win in Boulder Saturday to have any prayer of saving this season. Meanwhile, tip of the cap goes to the Bears. Beating K-State is no grand achievement, but it's a big step toward competing for the league and keeps the pressure on the other favorites to keep winning their road games as well.

Nebraska 61 Oklahoma 72
A big bravo to the Huskers for fighting all the way to the end in this one as it was much closer than the nine point disparity reveals. They led throughout, but in the end they lost Dagunduro to fouls and just couldn't stop Blake Griffin - who wasn't too far off my 30/20 prediction, falling just short with 27 & 18. This should again prove that OU is by no means infallible and also that Nebraska shouldn't be overlooked, even if they have no size whatsoever and lost to Baltimore-Maryland County.

Missouri 97 Oklahoma State 95
I'll never make anyone apologize for a conference road win - especially in GIA - but damn if Missouri didn't do everything possible to lose this one before getting bailed out by the referees. After leading comfortably throughout most of the game, the Tigers completely imploded giving OSU a few chances to tie or win in the last minute. One of those chances, Eaton went in for layup, was fouled/blocked by Missouri - yet the zebra called for a...jump ball? Despite only one hand ever being on the ball and the ball continuously moving in one direction, this excuse for a referee panicked and went with the "safe call." Given the situation, it was, without a doubt the worst call I've seen this season. And I don't say that out of hatred for Missouri. If he really thought they got a hand on it, I would have been fine with him judging it a block and not making a call - he would have been wrong, but it would have made sense. A jump ball did not.

As for the ramifications, OSU has now lost two straight nail-biters and been on the wrong end of questionable calls in both taking them to 1-2 in the league. Meanwhile, the Tigers have won three straight and none meant more than this one. If they can win in Manhattan, they'll enter Februrary no worse than 5-2 with a chance to be 6-1 if they can take care of Baylor at home. Neither one of these teams can do anything in the halfcourt.

Some shit went down outside of the league as well. Wake Forest lost AT HOME to mighty Virginia Tech and proved again that no one in the ACC plays any defense whatsoever. The sooner everyone accepts this, the better. Of more significance to Kansas fans, Northwestern was able to go into the Breslin Center and do what we couldn't - knocking off the Spartans and ending their 11 game winning streak. So that stings a little. As did Arizona blowing their game against ASU. I realize we saw two different teams than the ones that played last night, but it's a shame we weren't able to steal one of those games. Could I be getting a little greedy?

Mini-preview: Oklahoma State

2009-01-21T21:31:00.005-06:00

After making a serious run at Bill Self, Oklahoma State settled for Travis Ford. And really, I think Ford is a good fit for them. If nothing else, he’s an enormous upgrade from Sean Sutton – the most overwhelmed and under-qualified coach I’ve ever seen. Not only was it good for the Cowboys, but it was good for Sutton as well; another year on the bench just might have killed that guy the way things were going. Back to Ford, he likes to play an up-tempo style and that made him a good fit for the current athletes at OSU; if he can continue recruiting his type of player, he’ll have some success there.

This year, though, they’re going to be a little up and down. They’ve got some real nice parts and five double-digit scorers. Combine that with their pace of play and they’ll be tough for anyone to defend. But defense isn’t really their thing. And only one guy over 6’6” ever sees the floor – and even he doesn’t make his way off the bench very often. So if they’re that small and they aren’t going to guard you, how are they 12-4 and currently 5th in my conference rankings?

They’ve got some guys who can fill it up. Number 1 on that list is James Anderson. He came in as a heralded freshman a year ago and didn’t disappoint, playing over 30 minutes and scoring over 11 points per game. But he’s taken it up a notch this year. He’s currently just shy of 18 points and 6 rebounds per outing and has noticeably improved his outside shot. Whereas last year he was more of an athlete whose shot you needed to respect, he’s become a 46% three-point shooter that can also get to the rim. There’s a reason he’s only been held to single digits once this year.

Anderson is the best scorer, but Obi Muonelo is the best player. After somewhat regressing from his freshman to sophomore years, Muonelo has made a big leap forward this year. For the time being, he’s averaging a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. And like Anderson, he’s also taken his long-range game up a notch- from 34% a year ago all the way to 44% this year. At 6’5”, he’s going to have a lot of trouble guarding other bigs, but he creates a hell of a match-up problem for his guy as well with his ability to hit the three.

And you can’t mention the Cowboys without talking about Byron Eaton. He really came into his own last year and became this team’s leader and it has continued into this year. Though his scoring has increased, his shooting percentage has taken a dip, especially from three – but his assists are at an all-time high of six per game. He still needs to lose a few pounds and he’d likely see that FG% rise, but Eaton is a solid defender (their only one) and capable of controlling a game.

The last few guys you need to be aware of are: Terrel Harris, Keiton Page, Anthony Brown, Malcoln Kirkland & Marshall Moses. Like those above, Harris has seen his offensive numbers increase under Ford’s system. After scoring 10 points and shooting 27% from three a year ago, Harris is now scoring over 14 and it’s partly due to now making his threes 49% of the time. Keiton Page is their prized in-state recruit and despite being 5’10” 165, he’s pretty solid. He’s not much of a defender, but that doesn’t seem to bother Ford. He doesn’t turn the ball over, he scores 10 a game and he hits 42% of the time from deep. Brown (6’6”) and Kirkland (6’8”) represent the Cowboys’ “size.” They’re each good for 12-15 minutes, 3 points and 3 boards. As you might expect, they’re not exactly ideal forwards for competing in the Big XII. Don’t be surprised if Marshall Moses starts taking some of their minutes. He doesn’t have the yearly stats, but at 6’6” 215 he’s just as capable physically and his ceiling is much higher as evidenced by his 15 & 13 against A&M. That game and the one tonight are the only times I’ve seen much of him, but I like him much more than the other two.

Like last year, Oklahoma State is dangerous but flawed. They just switched deficiencies. Last year they could barely score, but they made you work for your points. This year they’ll give you whatever you want, but they’re going to try and beat you to 100. The more I watch of them, the more I question my ranking them fifth and I don’t see them holding that position for long. Is there a chance Missouri could be the fifth best team in the league? They're certainly making their case right now. Meanwhile, OU continues to under whelm me every time I see them.

Up next: K-State

Mini-preview: Texas Tech

2009-01-21T20:14:00.003-06:00

I had every intention of writing a Tech preview similar to all the others. That was, until I realized that I had yet to see them play even a half of basketball this year. I’m not sure how that’s happened as my weeknights are spent watching entirely too much college sports, but if I’ve seen them I effectively blocked it out of my memory. Which is probably for the better.

For the season, they’ve faced up against 4 competent opponents and Colorado. Their four competent opponents were: Pitt, Stanford, Baylor and Texas – they lost all four by: 13, 45, 12, & 22, respectively. In case you were wondering, they did hold off Colorado last night by a score of 63-55. I can’t even imagine how hideous an exhibition that must have been. Their second best win to date came by a measly 3 points over a dismal Wichita State team. And in addition to the four losses mentioned, they’ve found themselves on the wrong end against UTEP, Lamar and TCU. Getting the picture yet?

From a quick glance at the stats, they have 10 guys averaging double-figure minutes and 4 guys with double-figure scoring averages. Roberson is still the only guy on their roster who can create something on offense and he’s proving it by leading them in scoring at 14 and by being the only guy on the team that assists on a regular basis (6/game) – next closest is Voskuil at 2. Speaking of Voskuil, he’s still camping out behind the three-point line with 119 attempts on the year – 55 of them makes, good for 46%. At 6’6” Mike Singletary is next in line in scoring (10.9) and leads them in rebounding with just under 6 a game.

And frankly, that should be plenty on the Red Raiders. I’m not saying Pat Knight won’t get the job done eventually, but right now they couldn’t look worse. They don’t play much defense and really they aren’t very competent on offense either. Quite simply, they just don’t have the players and I can’t envision them winning more than 4 league games this season.

Up next: Oklahoma State

Mini-preview: Iowa State

2009-01-21T14:29:00.003-06:00

As I prepared to write this, I began to realize that we (or I) know very little about several Big XII teams at this point in the season. I say that because Iowa State scares me – they've got some nice pieces, they're well coached, and they've even got quality depth. For all these reasons, they were able to beat Oregon State and play Texas to 8 points in Austin. And yet, despite all of these reasons, they've lost to Hawaii, Drake, Iowa, South Dakota State, & were run off the floor by Missouri. If you can explain that, by all means...

More so than any other team in the league, Iowa State is dependent on one player every time out if they're going to compete. In all but two games, Craig Brackins has been in double figures. He came up short against SIU Edwardsville (win) and also against Iowa (16 point loss). We saw plenty of glimpses from him a year ago, but Brackins has clearly elevated his game and is currently working on averages of 18 points and 9 boards. I'll still never understand how such a heralded recruit from California ended up in Ames, but since he did the rest of the league will have to make do. At 6'10" 230 he's already got an NBA body and his game isn't far behind. He has good range out to 16-18 feet, but he shouldn't extend much past that – though he will (attempted a three in all but one game). In addition to his range, he also has some decent post moves and will use his athleticism to take guys off the dribble. He'll be a tough match-up every time out and he's capable of completely taking a game over, but if you make him work for his points he can be frustrated into a poor shooting performance.

Beyond Brackins, they're mostly complimentary, but PG Diante Garrett stands out above the others. Like Brackins, he's young and fits the mold physically (6'4 180) and really has no place being in Ames. The important thing when playing Garret is to cut off his driving lanes. He's not a great outside shooter and, surprisingly, he knows it – so he wants to take you off the dribble and either finish in the lane or dish out to one of his shooters. He's a bit of a do-everything in that he's averaging 11 points, 5 assists and 4 boards and he's capable of taking a game over, but like his teammate he can be frustrated into an inefficient night if you play solid defense on him.

The other three starters are Lucca Staiger, Bryan Peterson and Justin Hamilton. Though his stats aren't gaudy, Peterson is McDermott's third guy and is a poor man's Justin Mason. He'll guard you, he can handle the ball, he gets nearly 5 rebounds a game (at 6'1") and has the ability to hit the three (35%) though it's not his strength and if you can keep him behind the arc you've done your job. Staiger, on the other hand is their marksman. For the year, the German is a shade below 43% and that's on over 6 attempts a game. For comparison, for the entire year he's attempted 24 shots inside the arc and a total of 6 free throws, so this is not the guy to leave by himself behind the arc. In the loss at Drake he was 8/11 so if he gets rolling, watch out. As for Hamilton, there really isn't much to say about him. He's huge for a freshman (6'11" 255) and he hits most of the shots he takes (63%) but still only scores 5 points a game and finds his way to just over 3 boards. He'll start the game, but he'll get replaced early and often.

His most common replacement is Alex Thompson who doesn't bring a lot to the table either. A senior, he entered the season with career averages of about 2 & 2. This season he's enjoyed the fruits of his summer labor to bump those marks up to 3 & 3 and actually, he's seen his minutes get cut down since the start of conference play. The other three you'll see are: Haluska, Eikmeier, & Vanderbeken. The first two are basically the same player and, like Staiger, you should just expect them to come in and start firing from deep – though neither is especially accurate (Eikmeier @ 33%, Haluska @ 35%). And despite being 6'11" you might get the same out of Vanderbeken. In his limited play he actually rebounds well (3.2) and while over half of his attempts have been threes, he hits them at a 40% clip so he shouldn't be left alone.

Opponents have a couple of keys here and they aren't tough to decipher. First and foremost, make Brackins work for his points. If you have the ability to double the post, do that, but if not make sure you're finding a way to make him earn his 18 & 9. Secondly, don't let Garrett get into the lane. He can't beat you from outside, but he can finish in traffic and find the open man if he's getting past the first line of defense. Other than that, don't leave Staiger wide open and play good enough offense to shoot a good percentage and the pieces will fall into place.

Up next: Texas Tech

Big XII Rankings: Week 2

2009-01-20T20:57:00.004-06:00

Pretty often I’ll try and come up with rule changes in sports to make them better (i.e. three point line, instant replay, etc.) and very rarely do I succeed. However, there’s one that occurred twice last night that I’m positive would be for the better, however minor it may be. And it is extremely minor. But it seems to happen every single game and it never seems to make any more sense. In truth, it’s not even a rule; it’s an interpretation.

Nine times out of ten it happens closing out on a three point attempt. The shooter releases the ball and afterwards the defender runs into him or however which we he commits the foul, but the ball has clearly left the shooter’s hands. And yet, when the shot misses, the shooter is awarded three shots. How does this make any sense? Once the ball leaves his hands, he is no longer shooting and he is just like any other player on the court. In essence, he’s really just another rebounder. And yet, for some reason he’s treated differently.

That little rant has nothing to do with my post, but it bear mentioning I think. If you come across someone that can take it up with the rules committee, please bring it to his or her attention. And with that, we’re on to our conference round-up for this week. Not too much has changed since we last discussed this except for the revelation that either: 1) Nebraska is good at home, or 2) KSU and Missouri are tremendously awful on the road.

1. Oklahoma (17-1, 3-0). They’ve had by far the best league season so far by beating who is widely considered the second best team in Texas and winning two road games against decent competition (KSU and A&M). Blake Griffin and Willie Warren continue to impress, but what’s keeping them well above the rest has been the emergence of older brother Taylor, Austin Johnson and even Tony Crocker. They still have no bench whatsoever to speak of, with the lone possible exception of Cade Davis. (Previous: 1)
This week: Wednesday v. Nebraska, Saturday v. Baylor

2. Texas (13-4, 2-1). They haven’t fully impressed yet and they’re still without a point guard, but their offensive strategy switch on Saturday was very intriguing. If they can find a way to hide their deficiencies without sacrificing too much, they could take a step up. I still really like their defense, but I’m not yet convinced they can score against good, or even decent, defensive teams – because honestly, they’ve yet to do as much. (2)
This week: Wednesday v. Texas A&M

3. Baylor (14-3, 2-1). We’ll know a lot more after this week, but I’m starting to question them a bit more. As soon as they lost to South Carolina (and gave up 86 in the process) I knew they were same old Baylor. But after watching them get somewhat handled at A&M (and give up 84) and then struggle to hold off OSU at home (and give up 92) I’ve officially lost hope. They’re still plenty dangerous, but at some point you have to play defense if you want to be taken seriously. For the time being, they do not. (3)
This week: Wednesday @ KSU, Saturday @ Oklahoma

4. Kansas (14-4, 3-0). Since we last spoke eight days ago, the Hawks have won their first three league games and yet, we don’t know a whole lot more than we did then. That’s not to take away from their wins or their progress (both commendable), but it’s just a fact. I’ve seen some positive developments, etc. but nothing has happened that we didn’t see coming and they're still the 11th youngest team in the nation. As with the rest, we’ll know more shortly – possibly as soon as Saturday. (4)
This week: Won v. Texas A&M 73-53, Saturday @ Iowa State

5. Oklahoma State (12-4, 1-1). We still don’t know much, but the win over A&M was good and they really let one get away down in Waco – which, despite hurting their resume, was impressive all the same. I greatly question their defense, but like Baylor (and even Missouri), their offense makes them extremely dangerous when their shots are falling. (5)
This week: Wednesday v. Missouri, Saturday @ Nebraska

6. Missouri (15-3, 2-1). I’m giving them the bump for the time being, but I may regret it as soon as tomorrow. They’ve been extremely impressive in obliterating Colorado & ISU at home, but they were obviously pathetic in Lincoln. Can they get a stop when they need to? Can they score in the half court? Can they beat even a marginal team on the road? Right now the answers are: no, no, & we have no idea. We’ll learn a lot more in the next couple weeks. (7)
This week: Wednesday @ OSU, Saturday v. Texas Tech

7. Texas A&M (15-4, 1-3). They’re probably not as good as their 15-4 overall record, but they’re not as bad as their 1-3 league mark either. They’re currently lacking an offensive identity and aren’t nearly as good on defense as they get credit for, but they’re solid all the same. Presuming they lose Saturday, Turgeon will really need to rally them so as not to let this tough early schedule (and losses) snowball into a bad season, because they have some nice parts and could be a tournament team come March. (6)
This week: Lost @ KU 73-53, Saturday @ Texas

8. Nebraska (12-4, 2-1). It may just be my own stupidity, but I actually think KSU is a better team. But that little thing called a 22 point loss to these Huskers makes it a pretty tough point to argue. Back to the Huskers, I think my assertion that they’re the weirdest team is proving more and more true. How else can you explain their loss to Baltimore-Maryland County, yet they beat a decent Missouri team and run K-State off the court? By the way, a 30-20 from Griffin just might be possible tomorrow night. (9)
This week: Wednesday @ Oklahoma, Saturday v. Oklahoma State

9. Kansas State (11-6, 0-3). Currently in last place all by their lonesome, the Wildcats are in a danger zone. Like I said, I think they could fit in at eighth, but they have somewhat of a must-win tomorrow and an absolute must win this weekend or things could get ugly. And really, the more I see the less I trust them and Big Frank. (8)
This week: Wednesday v. Baylor, Saturday @ Colorado

10. Iowa State (12-6, 1-2). Like many of the other teams near the bottom of this list, they’re dangerous at home and almost irrelevant anywhere else. Brackins is an all-league guy (second or third team) and Garrett has really improved from a year ago, but there isn’t much else. Let’s hope they can’t find any Hilton magic this weekend. (10)
This week: Saturday v. Kansas

11. Texas Tech (10-7, 0-2). At this exact moment, they’re locked in a battle with the only team on this list below them and it’s as riveting as expected with them leading 27-23 at the half. I’m still stunned that they played Pitt so close early on, because every time I’ve seen them they’ve found a way to lower the bar on my already-low expectations. (11)
This week: Right now v. Colorado, Saturday @ Missouri

12. Colorado (8-8, 0-2). I highly doubt this happens, but I won’t be completely shocked if they don’t win another game. I was so unbelievably unimpressed with everyone not named Cory Higgins that I couldn’t believe they were an actual Big XII team. Bzdelik may be the right hire – and I personally think he knows his stuff – but he has a task on his hands there in Boulder. (12)
This week: Right now @ Texas Tech, Saturday v. K-State

Inaugural Rankings (1/12)

New Defensive Line Coach

2009-01-20T16:37:00.004-06:00

It was announced today that Kansas named Kerry Locklin the new defensive line coach. Locklin comes to us after 9 seasons as the d-line coach at Fresno State. In his time there, he coached two WAC defensive players of the year and have had 11 total earn all-league honors, 7 of which have been of the first-team variety.

Couple with the Bill Miller hiring, Kansas looks to have their staff positions filled and will look to finalize their recruiting class in the coming weeks. Glad to have you aboard, Kerry.

Update: In other news, Bill Young has returned to the Big XII to help coach his alma mater, the Oklahoma State Sooners. I'd label this as a surprise, but I definitely think this improves the Cowboys for the time being.

Mini-Preview: Texas

2009-01-20T15:45:00.002-06:00

Apologies for the delay, but after digesting another weekend of Big XII basketball, we're back to our mini-previews. As you may have noticed, Rick Barnes has turned Texas into one hell of a program. Consider, in the last three years they've lost Boobie Gibson, LaMarcus, Aldridge, PJ Tucker (however ill-advised), Kevin Durant & DJ Augustin early to the draft. Yet again, they sit highly ranked at 13-4 after a tough non-con slate and in contention for the Big XII title. Unfortunately, for them, Barnes didn't see the DJ Augustin defection coming and as a result, he's been left without a point guard. If the second half at Tech was any indication, they may figure things out yet, but ultimately you just can't go where they want to without a competent point guard and he doesn't exist on this year's roster.

However, they're still plenty dangerous on a game by game basis and are definitely Sweet 16 material if not further. As you know by now, their two leaders are Abrams and James. You won't find many (or any) better shooters than Abrams and despite his size he's become a decent defender, but that's where his abilities stop, despite what his father will tell you. He's not a great handler, he can't really create for himself or others and I've yet to see much out of him in regards to leadership. That doesn't mean I don't like him as a player, just that he has certain limitations that he doesn't want to recognize, despite how obvious they may be. James, on the other hand, I can't quite figure out. He's a match-up nightmare and as good a rebounder as you'll find (when he wants to be), but I'm always left feeling like he should be doing more and I get the feeling he's trying to cater his game to the NBA scouts – but really, I have no basis for either of these assumptions. All in all, he's a guy I'd take on my team in a second and the Horns love being able to count on him for 15 and 8 every time out.

The surprise, to some, is Gary Johnson. I call him a surprise because his heart condition prevented us from getting a full look at him a year ago. But anyone who watched him play saw the skill set and effort and knew that once his health issues subsided, he would be a force. I don't love his 47% shooting, but if he could get a little more efficient and still get his 11 & 7 he'd take the next step and he's already a very viable (but under-sized) big man.

The others you'll remember are Mason, Atchley and Pittman. I love everything about Mason (7, 4, 5) and yet, like James, I don't feel like he's doing all he can. He's much more of an all-everything than the PG Barnes wanted him to be and I still can't explain his utter no-show in Norman (0 points on 0 shots, 2 boards, 3 assists), but all in all, he's an excellent defender and effort guy and can score it a little as well – though I don't care for his 43% shooting on only 6 shots a game). Atchley is also a little confusing as he seems to have regressed. Once known as a guy who got a couple more rebounds than he probably should have and always seemed to hit a timely three, he's now been reduced to 21 minutes and is only producing 6 points and 3 boards in that time; and he's only hitting 33% of his threes, down from 42% a year ago. I still think Atchley is a good player, and under-rated defender, but his ability to shoot is what separated him before and until he gets that back, he's nothing special. And finally, the ultimate enigma is Dexter Pittman. Despite his inability to play a ton of minutes, Pittman is probably their most efficient offensive player and certainly their best inside option – but he doesn't fit their offense one bit. In only 13 minutes a game, he's scoring 9 points and grabbing over 4 boards while shooting 59% and yet he barely saw the court against Tech (1 minute) which is probably a sign of things to come as Barnes has become frustrated with trying to run an offense without a point guard and in their new "scheme", Dexter takes up too much space.

The other guys you should know are: Varez Ward, Dogus Balbay, Clint Chapman and Matt Hill. Each bring a little something extra, but none are complete players in any sense. Balbay is their first option here and he is an excellent on ball defender and a pretty good penetrator, but his jump shot deserves exactly zero respect for the time being. Ward has a similar offensive game, but is not nearly the defender of Balbay and may be getting fazed out a bit. Hill & Chapman (to a lesser extent) are both effort guys that don't play usually a ton but give them serviceable bigs, and more importantly, fouls – anything else is a bonus. Hill is clearly the better player and may turn into something more down the road, but for now he's just worth keeping an eye on.

As has become customary, the Horns are good. But like always, they're missing a piece of the pie. Back in '05 it was depth (and a PG). In '06 they were too young. And last year they didn't have enough size, plus it was the year of the Jayhawk. This year it's their lack of a point guard. However, they play much better defense than we've become accustomed to and they're certainly still good enough to contend for the league and do some damage for a week or so in the tournament, but I'd anticipate that being their ceiling for 2009.

Up next: Iowa State

Post-game: Texas A&M

2009-01-20T11:55:00.001-06:00

If you want to know what one Aggie from Texas (and even another from Kansas) were thinking during last night's game, you can find it here. (It should be noted that even with some of A&M's late fouls; they were whistled for 17 compared to only 16 for the Hawks. An enormous discrepancy if ever there was one.)

From my perspective, I could not be much happier. Obviously being tied atop the league and without a conference blemish is welcomed, but more importantly, this team is really coming along. Last night was far and away their most complete game of the season and was catalyzed by playing their best defense of the season. Texas A&M is by no means a great team, but they've won on the road and just a few days ago they were within 6 points of the fifth ranked Sooners. So they were plenty capable. They were also plenty experienced (every starter was either a Junior or Senior). And yet we looked vastly superior in every way from the opening tip to the final buzzer. We're clearly a different team in Allen Fieldhouse, but that was a really good win.

Now if we can get two more in our next two tries we'll really be in business. From what I can tell, Bill expected to be about right where we are. Specifically, I think he expected to be 15-3 overall and 3-0 in the league. And all along, he's been looking to these next two games as our indicators. If we can go on the road and take care of lesser (but capable) teams in succession, we'll really have an opportunity to make some noise in the league this year. After that we'll welcome in the Buffs for their yearly thrashing in the Fieldhouse. But then it gets a whole lot tougher with 3 of the next 4 on the road and all in tough environments – Baylor, Missouri and K-State, with a home game against the Pokes mixed in. 4-0 in that stretch isn't completely out of the question, but it's not very likely either; and really, 2-2 would be acceptable – especially with the next two in Allen against Nebraska & Iowa State as both are presumed wins. For those following at home that would put as at 10-2 with trips to Norman and Lubbock remaining, as well as visits from Missouri and Texas. So while that would be a good position, it's all contingent on winning these next two.

I won't be submitting grades for this game as I was pleased with everyone who stepped on the floor. Some may look at Tyrel's 2 points and 1 steal and assume he didn't play well. But while he wasn't knocking down the threes we look to get from him, he was stepping into passing lanes and driving aggressively into the lane to create some offense. Neither one of these things led to much for us, but both are things we haven't seen a lot from him and will be crucial to his development going forward.

And by the way, welcome to the party, Mario Little. 6/6 shooting for 15 points and 4 boards in just 14 minutes. Umm, yes please. Though he looked plenty physical, he just doesn't have the size to guard the four and unfortunately, he's still too slow to guard on the wing. But the mid-range game he displayed last night was a thing of beauty. Obviously we shouldn't expect that kind of shooting every time out, but as he gets healthier and gives us more minutes, he's going to create some very tough match-up problems for a lot of teams.

Quite frankly, Sherron's five turnovers and questionable shot selection late were the only things worth complaining about in this one. Sure, I'd love the Morris' to start knocking down both free throws every once in a while, but for the time being that just isn't going to happen.

Those tiny gaffs aside, we really have little to bemoan. We trapped the post beautifully, completely taking Elonu and even Davis out of the game. Brady single-handedly shut down Josh Carter despite giving up a lot of size and even more athleticism. And we forced 20 turnovers against a much more experienced team, while only turning it over 12 times ourselves against their pressure defense. Really, if you're not extremely happy with everything that went on last night, there's not much pleasing you. Now, as we've said a few times lately, we just need to figure out a way to take this act on the road.

What do you think?

2009-01-20T08:56:00.002-06:00

We'll get to the game momentarily, but for now I'd like to request a little reader interaction and get your opinion on Bill Self's supposed recruiting violation that is all the rage recently.

As you all know by now, per his admission, Self attended John Wall's most recent tournament and after one of the games went back to speak with the coach and happened to see Wall as well. Upon seeing him, he told him good game, but that he couldn't speak with him as stipulated by NCAA rules.

Does this bother you?

Should he/KU be punished? Why or why not?

Personally, I wish he wouldn't have done it simply because he knew Allen Vaughan was a reporter (even said hi to him) and this is obviously creating bad press - despite how minor it may seem. However, one could also argue that especially since he knew Vaughan and even acknowledged him, he obviously didn't think what he was doing was too egregious. I'm probably somewhere in between, leaning toward the latter. And since he owned up to it so quickly, reported it to KU and it's obviously minor, I wouldn't expect anything significant to materialize. Then again, with the NCAA, anything is possible as precedent means less than nothing.

Colorado React, Texas A&M Pre-Game

2009-01-18T15:25:00.005-06:00

In watching yesterday’s game, there were only two things a Kansas fan could bemoan: turnovers and free throws. Those two aspects aside, they were fabulous. They got good shots, they knocked them down and they stayed focused on defense. And it added up to a 17 point win on the road.

We listed three primary keys to victory…

1. Dominate the boards. Check. They came up with a +10 margin (31 to 21) and in a game with only 44 missed shots, that’s a pretty sizeable difference. Cole had his usually 10. Brady actually came up with a very surprising 8 after not grabbing a single one against KSU. Markieff, who is becoming a pretty decent rebounder, had 5 in 18 minutes. There was one particular instance where we didn’t box out well and let them get one they shouldn’t, but for most of the day we did a great job.

2. Tempo. Half check. We didn’t dominate it like Missouri did, but we also didn’t try to, nor should we have. I won’t give a full check, because despite their non-pressure defense, we turned it over too much to truly control tempo. But with that said, we definitely had spurts of forcing it and that was plenty to let us play a majority of the second half with a double-digit lead.

3. Stay poised. Big check. Just like our other losses, we came out and got an early lead and quickly let it slip away. But instead of panicking, we stayed calm and focused and took a decent lead into halftime. Then Colorado made a “run” to start the second half and cut it to 2. But again, we didn’t recoil; we simply calmed down, ran our offense and extended the lead back through where we had it, once reaching 21 with about five or six minutes left. Would we have had that same poise in a more hostile environment? Hard to say. But it doesn’t matter, because we had it when we needed it and now we have some confidence going forward.

All in all, a great effort in front of a great Jayhawk – not to mention the 6,000 others that made the trip. It wasn’t the toughest place to get our first road win, but it was the best. Confidence is a funny thing with college kids and I think yesterday did a lot to boost this team’s heading forward as they have to first defend their home floor against a better than expected A&M team and then go to Ames & Lincoln – two places that are always tougher to play than the opposition would indicate.

Speaking of the Aggies, if you’ve yet to see them, they’re better than advertised. Thus far in league play they’re a disappointing 1-2. However, both losses are plenty forgivable as the first took place in Stillwater and the second was just yesterday to the prohibitive favorite Sooners – the difference in the latter being as simple as making free throws (OU was 83% while A&M was 61%). And their win isn’t too shabby either, coming in semi-comfortable fashion over a good Baylor team. For a quick synopsis of them, you can see our mini-preview here.

But specifically in reference to tomorrow, we’ll have to play much better than in either of our previous two league wins to emerge victorious. They’re two best players are probably on the perimeter, but they’ll still be the best inside team we’ve seen since East Lansing. As you know, we have had trouble rebounding against some of our better competition and if we don’t get a body on all five Aggies, they’ll make us pay.

1. Match their intensity. We’re a much more skilled team than the Aggies, but we’re not as tough as them. Every guy they put out there is going to try to rough us up and make us uncomfortable. Thus, we need to do the same. And we also need to not let what they do bother us. As expected, they’re a very good defensive team and we’re sure to go through some dry spells on offense. It will be imperative to recognize these stints and bear down on defense so they’re never able to string together big runs. It will be just as imperative to not waste our good defense by giving them easy second chance points – as always, winning the boards will be key.

2. Sherron & Cole. Sherron needs to control the game like he did against Tennessee. He needs to set the tone at both ends of the floor, take care of the ball, get others involved and hit shots. Hey, we don’t ask for much. Cole just needs to post hard, defend smart (so as not to get into foul trouble) and keep converting his touches into points. After yesterday, he’s now shooting over 64% from the floor and 80% from the line, which adds up to a fantastic 1.72 points per shot. If Sherron controls pace and we let Cole not just be efficient but also productive, we’ll be in great shape tomorrow (and any game, for that matter).

3. Take care of the ball. K-State wasn’t bad defensively, but really, they just pressured on the perimeter and had very little waiting once you got past the guards. The same will not be true tomorrow. I wouldn’t expect A&M to zone us, but rather man up and just try and beat our ass. They’ll be as good at this as anyone we’ve seen – how we react very well could be the primary difference between a win and a loss.

**Update** Tyshawn Taylor was just named Big XII Rookie of the Week for the third time this season after two solid performances following his no-show in East Lansing. Something to watch tonight will be how he handles the athletic, aggressive defenders from Texas A&M. If he puts together another great performance, I think we can safely consider him past his freshman wall.

Not too long ago, I considered this game as an easy win. Having watched them a couple more times this past week, I'm no longer quite as confident. Don’t get me wrong, we should still win. For one, I think we’re a better overall team. For another, it’s in the Phog. So if we come to play and handle their pressure and stay true to who we are, we’ll get our third league win. However, if we come up short on any of these things, they’re plenty good to steal one from us on or home court – something that we simply can’t afford if we’re to contend for the conference this season.

Rock Chalk!

Pre-game thoughts: Colorado

2009-01-16T20:47:00.010-06:00

I planned to start this out talking about how important it will be for Kansas to win on the road tomorrow (which it will) and then I had a revelation. No one has really won on the road yet. Off the top of my head, I could only come up with six road wins by Big XII teams, so I did some rudimentary research and found out that I was short-changing the league – by six. There have been 12 total road wins (over 11 teams) by Big XII members so far this year with one of those having come in league play. Here is the entire list:

Kansas State (OU) - Rice (OU, A&M) - Texas A&M CC (OSU) - Alabama (A&M) - Georgia (MU) - Wazzu (Baylor) - Wisconsin (Texas) - TCU (Nebraska) - Northern Iowa (ISU) - Houston (ISU) - Cleveland State (KSU)

And we wonder why our conference RPI never reflects how good we think we are. Three teams (KU, CU, & Tech) didn’t get a single road win prior to conference play. However, from that list of wins, there are exactly three places where I wouldn’t guarantee a Kansas victory – Wisconsin, Kansas State and possibly Alabama – and all would be more winnable than the two we attempted. Our road games, on the other hand, were at Arizona and Michigan State – not exactly the easiest places in the country to go in and win a game, especially when they’re fired up to be playing the reigning National Champions.

So now I feel a whole lot better about our ability to perform on the road. Perhaps that’s misguided, but I also think it has some legitimacy. Because really, a simple 0-2 mark in those two places is plenty excusable for anyone. It’s the 1-2 neutral court mark that has everyone in frenzy. But does that really concern you? They destroyed a decent Washington team their first time away from the Fieldhouse. A night later they controlled a very good Syracuse team for 38 minutes – missed a couple free throws, had a great player make a play, and ended up losing in overtime. Obviously the UMass loss was inexcusable, but it really seems like more of anomaly than the norm. There’s no denying this team’s 1-4 mark away from the Phog, but unless you believe that the first 78 minutes against UW and ‘Cuse was more likely a fluke than the UMass game, you’ve got nothing to stand on to suggest that this team can’t win away from home.

With all of that said, they do have a bridge to cross. Some of this stuff is much more psychological (especially with young guys) and right now, all they’ve been told is that they can’t win on the road – though I have a hunch Bill hasn’t been perpetuating that message. Which is why I’m ecstatic that this game is in Boulder. Because I do expect them to struggle at times tomorrow, which is when it helps to have better talent at every position on the floor. More specifically, our road struggles have come as a result of poor, confused defense once the other team has made a run. Fortunately, I don’t think this Colorado team has much of a run in them. You may remember from our mini-preview, they pretty much have Higgins and Tomlinson – everyone else is just complimentary – and as good as those two are, even they have trouble with ball security and only Higgins can really create points for himself.

Keys…

1. Dominate the boards. For the year, against a pretty poor schedule, Colorado has been outrebounded by just over 4 a game. Worse yet, they’re only corralling a mere 29 boards a game, and only 6.5 on the offensive end. Against some of our better opponents we’ve been beaten on the boards and a lot of times wasted good first shot defense by allowing easy second chance points. This should not and cannot be a problem tomorrow if we’re going to win. And just as importantly, we need to learn how to rebound before Monday’s visit from the Aggies – Boulder seems like a great place to practice.

2. Tempo. The Buffs rely entirely on their defense to keep them in games, because they know they can’t keep up on the scoreboard. As you all know, we’re quite the opposite. So of course they’ll be trying to slow things down tomorrow. Much like #1, winning this battle has a two-pronged effect. For one thing, it will make winning this particular game much easier. And secondly, this team needs to learn how to impose its will rather than succumbing to the opposition – pace of play is one of the best ways for this to happen. And with tempo, they need to keep focused on defense. Colorado may not score much (67/game) but they do actually shoot pretty well (48%) and if we're not bearing down or rotating quickly, they'll back-cut the hell out of us & convert those mistakes into easy buckets. Keep the pressure on at both ends of the floor and they'll struggle.

3. Stay poised. As much as I tried to dispel the road worries, it’s undeniable that most teams have trouble keeping their poise on the road. We lost our poise against Syracuse. We lost everything at Arizona. And we definitely didn’t bring out a few things (poise included) for the first half in East Lansing. All three were frustrating, but all three were plenty comprehensible. And lessons should be learned from all three. If nothing else, just keep enough of it to not get flustered and get away from what we do best. Move on offense, drive hard to the hold, DO NOT forget about Cole - he usually has an advantage and that's even more true tomorrow than in most games. Too often we get rattled, get sped up and forget our identity. Keep our poise tomorrow and we’ll come away with our first road win and a renewed level of confidence.

There’s really no way around the fact that Colorado is awful. I mean really awful. Their best performance of the year was a 14 point loss at Stanford. Their worst was a home loss to Montana State. And somewhere in between was the 45 point blowout to Missouri the other night. So losing tomorrow would be inexcusable; maybe not quite as bad as the UMass loss, but right up there. One loss like that can be tolerated, but two is definitely pissing into the wind. This team has goals in mind – some of them lofty- but even the smallest ones require winning games like tomorrow. Hopefully there’s a lot of Jayhawk Blue in Boulder tomorrow as the Hawks go to 2-0 in the league.

Rock Chalk!

Mini-Preview: Missouri

2009-01-16T16:07:00.002-06:00

The best thing you can say about Missouri is that is has depth. And the worst thing you can say about Missouri is that is has depth. A whopping 11 players are averaging double figure minutes, though two are only effective on a nightly basis. Both of those figures rely on Leo "the lion" Lyons being reinstated at some point after his latest infraction with the law. By the way, does an indefinite suspension make sense to any for the alleged transgression of an "unpaid traffic ticket?" There has to be something more there, right? Right. Moving on, I say their depth is both good and bad, because it speaks to their style of play – which was well chronicled here (and part 2 is here).

Anderson's Forty Minutes of Heck makes absolutely no sense in this era of college basketball, let alone the Big XII. Every so often you face a team as bad as Colorado, in your building, you get a little hot and a 45 point win ensues. Sometimes it even happens against decent teams like Cal. But more often than not, you find yourself on the road, against a shit-tastic Nebraska team and you can barely come up with 50 points so you walk out losers. This can also happen against mediocre teams on a neutral court. Truthfully, we don't yet know what to expect out of the Tigers this year. They've played four competent teams (USC, Cal, Xavier, & Illinois), going 2-2 in the process. And they're 1-1 against Nebraska and Colorado, whatever you want to call them. So I guess we should consider them average.

You know most of the players, so I won't delve into them much except to highlight a few notable statistics that may interest you. Carroll, Lyons and to an extent, Tiller (7.6/game), are the only scoring options – nothing new – with Carroll and Lyons being the only competent rebounders on the team (no one else is averaging more than 3). Matt Lawrence has actually turned himself into a 42% 3-point shooter again, though that's a little misleading considering he's a startling bad 4/27 (14.8%) in their games against: XU, USC, Cal, IU, NU, otherwise known as their only legitimate competition. Additionally, I've seen decent stuff out of Denmon, Taylor, English and even Bowers – and I think we all know and respect the tutelage young Miguel Paul has received (and update). Denmon is clearly the most ready and may even turn out to be the best down the road, but none of these guys should be getting the type of minutes they're being afforded now.

This year's Tigers team has some potential. I'd even say they're capable of beating every team in the league – and not just in the sense that "on any given day…" – but that they have a different type of system to prepare for, along with just enough talent that if they're hitting shots they become very dangerous. Fortunately, they're still Missouri so they're likely to parlay this potential into something in the region of 8-8 and a restless few days waiting for their NIT seed.

Up next: Texas

Mini-Preview: Texas A&M

2009-01-16T13:33:00.007-06:00

Quickly, I'm don't necessarily agree with all fifteen selections, but every time Jay Bilas speaks/writes it becomes painfully obvious how much more intelligent he is than everyone else at ESPN. Ombudsman not included.

The Turgeon General has quietly pieced together another decent squad of Aggies. Are they officially a basketball school now? I vote yes and really I don't see an argument against such a vote. On the one hand, there is a very probable chance that this will be their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament team. And to this day, they are still the only Big XII South team to win a single game in AllenFieldhouse since the formation of the league. Meanwhile, aside from a few Tier 2 bowl game losses, the football team has done almost nothing and continues to sink further into irrelevancy. Where's the debate?

Back to this team, I've been surprisingly impressed. They don't do any one thing very well, but they've got a few really good college players and some complimentary parts around them to fill in the gaps. Their NBA radar starts and stops with Josh Carter, unquestionably their best all around player. Carter came in as a three point shooter (and still carries that reputation), but has slowly become much more dangerous as a slasher – except no one has told him yet. Listed at 6'7" (more like 6'5"), there is no reason that nearly 60% of his shots should be coming from more than 20 feet – especially when he's only making them 37% of the time. That's a solid number sure, but he's almost always going to be a match-up problem with his size and speed, yet he rarely utilizes either. It sounds like I'm down on him (and I am), but really I'd take him on my team in a second – if for no other reason than his great defense, which I failed to mention up until this point.

Their other two primary known weapons are Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis. Sloan is extremely quick and good with the ball (2.3/1 A/TO ratio) and has actually become somewhat of an outside threat (38%) though he doesn't shoot them often. And like any Aggie that plays, his worth is really proven defensively. Bryan Davis is somewhat of a wildebeest with a surprisingly good touch. At 6'9" 240, I'd like to see him grab more than 6 boards a game, but it's tough to do when he limits himself to 26 minutes by way of either fouls or exhaustion. It's hit or miss with him – he's either dominant or invisible, rarely putting together an average game.

The surprise of the season has to be Chinemelu Elonu. For the year, his numbers aren't gaudy (11 & 8), but as a guy that gave them 3 & 3 a year ago, I didn't see this one coming. And what's more, he seems to be getting better as the year goes along (novel concept), really turning it on since the start of conference play – 20 & 12 @ OSU, 17 & 16 v. Baylor. He's unquestionably their best rebounder (6 double digit performances) and if he can continue to give them 30 minutes and anything near his recent production, they take a giant step up. If this is just a quick fluke, then they need to be re-evaluated (see: his 4 points, 0 boards and 5 fouls in their inexcusable loss to Tulsa - to be fair he was going against Jerome Jordan, a vastly underrated player). Aside from those mentioned, Holmes, Roland and even Dash Harris contribute nightly with varying degrees of success. As role players on marginal teams are wont to do, they've only been consistent at being inconsistent. Holmes is clearly the best of the three, but he doesn't always show up so it really varies from game to game.

As mentioned, this Aggie team is a surprise. I didn't think they'd be awful by any means, but I also didn't think of them as a tournament team with a chance to get a bye in Oklahoma City. Now, I'm not so sure. They've got four wins that should hold up ('Zona, LSU, @ 'Bama, and Baylor) and only one bad loss (Tulsa) as there's no shame in losing in Stillwater. They've got a good chance to add another Saturday when the Sooners visit and we'll get our first up-close look on Monday when they travel to Allen Fieldhouse. This is a team to keep an eye on though.

Up next: Missouri

Mini-Preview: Baylor

2009-01-16T10:03:00.002-06:00

Even in this part of the country, everyone seems to forget about Baylor – most likely, this is out of habit. But Scott Drew has himself some players down their in Waco. I don't know HOW he's getting players to Waco, but that matters not. Seriously, is there is a less likely fit than LaceDarius Dunn going to college in a place where "Fuck it" is pronounced "Goosefeathers" and only relevant landmark is the Dr. Pepper Museum? Of course not, but he keeps luring them in. If only he were teaching them a thing or two once they arrived, then they'd really have something.

By now, you know all the relevant pieces: Jerrels, Dugat, Dunn, Rogers, Tweety Carter, and of course, Sir Mamadou Diene. And as expected, nothing has really changed. Each of these guys (minus Mamadou) is capable of getting 20 on any given night – all of them will get into double figures – and none of them will play much individual defense, let alone any sort of competent team defense. Which is why they'll win a lot games, be dangerous against everyone they play, but ultimately accomplish nothing more than a decent win total and tournament appearance.

The one new guy worth mentioning is Quincy Acy. A 6'7" freshman, Acy has the build of your standard 12 year old Ethiopian and has been good for about 16 minutes, 6 points and 4 boards a game. But when he shoots, he makes it – 76% of the time. Though he's cooled off a bit since the first three games in which he went: 6/6, 7/7, & 5/5, respectively. It does bear mentioning that the opponents were PaulQuin, Centenary & Southern, (where in goosefeathers do they find these teams?!) but impressive nonetheless that he went 3+ games without missing. Before you get too impressed, it should also be noted that nearly every one of these shots has come from within 3 feet and he's currently converting 44% of his free throws (15/34) so a sharpshooter he is not.

I'd love to say I have some new insight on Baylor, but really they're all just a year older and now without the Australian guy that was a star when he showed up and became less relevant by the season. They'll be extremely tough to beat at the Ferrell Center (although the South Carolina loss had to be a bit humbling) and a combination of dangerous and shitty on the road. They're clearly a top tier team and 10+ wins is very much within their reach. But if you've got some size, remain competent on offense and limit their open looks, there's a good chance you're beating the Baylor Bears.

Up next: Texas A&M

Mini-Preview: Colorado Buffaloes

2009-01-15T15:41:00.006-06:00

I mentioned in our preliminary conference rankings that Colorado was the worst team – last night, that hypothesis was confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt. Missouri isn't a bad team – despite their inability to beat the smurfs from Nebraska – but 45 points is a complete disgrace. Like most teams, Colorado is a lot better in Boulder than anywhere else – but even there they haven't been good. In fact, their best performance of the year might have been their 14 point loss out in Palo Alto to an average Stanford team. Their many other losses include: roadies at SMU and last night in Columbia, & on a neutral Hawaii court to Buffalo and Vermont (25 points). Even at home, they've been beaten by Montana State and TCU. Their best win is a toss-up between Harvard, Colorado State and Coppin State. This season has not been kind to Jeff Bzdelik and his young Buffs.

Basically, if you slow down Cory Higgins you've got the game won. And chances are you don't even have to do that – though they had played pretty good defense until last night. For the year, Higgins (6'5") is scoring just shy of 18 points and grabbing 6 rebounds per game – both team bests by a wide margin. Higgins' specialty is getting into the paint, but he can hit from deep as well (38%), though he hasn't really shown the ability to hit more than 1 or 2 per game. In addition, though he doesn't lead the team in assists, he really is their best creator because of the respect he is given by opposing teams.

Aside from Higgins, they've got decent scoring options in Thorne (12), Dufault (9) and even Tomlinson (9). At 6'2", Thorne is sadly their fourth leading rebounder (3.5) and really he's just a guy that's going to hit an open three or two and probably mix it up just enough inside to get a couple buckets. Dufault is their "big man" – at a massive 6'8" 210 pounds – and he leverages that size into nearly 10 points and just shy of four boards per outing. The other big the like to play is Casey Crawford (6'9" 235), who those in the area may remember from his days at Blue Valley North not too long ago. He was pretty much a douche then, still was when he tried to play at Wake Forest, and nothing has really changed as he still only parlays that body size into a big who likes to face the basket & shoot threes with relative success. And then you have their young Australian PG, Nate Tomlinson. He's semi-quick, a decent distributor (3.6/gm. with no one to distribute to) and can score it a little bit (9/game). Others you'll likely see are Jackson-Wilson, Knutson and Eckloff. J-W is a solid wing that is probably their best rebounder given his limited minutes – but he's incredibly raw and can't do much offensively. Knutson and Eckloff are 6'9" – that's about it.

Basically, the Buffaloes are going to try and guard you. For most of the season, they've been able to do that with decent effectiveness (last night aside). Bzdelik is going to switch up his defenses, pressure the ball and make you work for points. But if you at least make a concerted effort at the defensive end, there's a decent chance they won't get to sixty. I anticipate they'll be losing a lot of games in the vicinity of 75-55…

Up next: Baylor

Mini-preview: Nebraska Cornhuskers

2009-01-15T11:54:00.003-06:00

Is there a weirder team in the conference than Nebraska? Colorado is certainly the worst – as the 45 point loss to Missouri should prove – but Nebraska looks like a high school team. They are playing six guys 20+ minutes a game. Of those six, the tallest is 6'5" Ade Dagunduro – he of the 11 points and nearly four rebounds per game. Behind those six, you have 6'6" freshman Toney McCray – thus far he's averaged just under 18 minutes, 7 points and 4 boards. And finally, you have Chris Balham. Those in the area may remember him from his days at Shawnee Mission West. After moving from Paris with his family, Balham became a decent HS player (with averages of 11 points, 11 boards & 4 blocks) in garnering honorable mention All-State consideration as a senior.

Wow, that is one tiny little team! I suppose that should explain how they were able to lose to the Baltimore-Maryland County Retrievers. And make it all the more hilarious that they recently beat the Missouri Tigers. But really, I like Steve Harley's game – despite completely dominating them beyond belief the last few years, he showed some promise and is a solid college guard. And I'd echo those same sentiments about Dagunduro and Henry. Both are long athletes that can challenge (guard's) shots, can get to the rim and even pull up a little bit. Even Cookie Miller, despite his height disadvantage is a decent little PG that can take care of the ball and dish it out as well. But what makes this team so hilarious to me is that despite having less height than most AAU teams, they can't shoot the ball either. They have exactly one guy – Paul Velander – worth really accounting for from three point range. For the year, Velander is 40/84 for 47.6%. A true marksman, Velander has only attempted 9 two point FGs on the season. Yes, you read that right – he's taken 93 shots, but 84 have been from beyond the arc – so I think we know how to play him. Second is Sek Henry at 40%, but 16/41 doesn't exactly put the fear of God into you.

Despite how it seems, I'm not posting this simply to ridicule Nebraska. Hell, they beat Missouri, who beat current Pac 10 leader Cal, who beat Arizona, who beat our Kansas Jayhawks. So according to the transitive property we just might be in some trouble. In fact, Reid Gettys doesn't think the odds makers will have us favored when we make our trip to Lincoln in two weeks. Then again, that's what makes him Reid Gettys.

Up next: Colorado

Happy Mullet Wednesday! (plus KSU grades)

2009-01-14T20:47:00.003-06:00

In honor of Jodie Meek's unreal 54 point performance last night, we are proud to present to you the very standard, yet always eye-pleasing, Kentucky Waterfall mullet. I can only speculate as to his location at the time of the picture, but rest assured that my imagination is running rampant and as a result, a smile is firmly planted on my face. Happy Mullet Wednesday to all!

From Pat Forde's piece on the Kentucky/Tennessee game last night…

Tennessee somehow scrapped to within seven at 71-64 with less than six minutes to play. That's when Gillispie went back to his SLOB (sideline out-of-bounds) and BLOB (baseline out-of-bounds) playbook, which paid dividends all night. He called a play for Meeks, who responded by draining a baseline 3-pointer.

Any chance Bill could call up his old pal, Billy Clyde, and share a few ideas here. I noticed marketable improvement in this area the last few games, but still very little in way of production. I wouldn't mind having one of those Joide Meeks' either. Just a thought…

We currently possess the second longest home-court winning streak in the nation, at 34 games. Notre Dame is at 45. Their next home game is on the 24th against UConn. After that, they have capable visitors in (possibly) Marquette, Louisville & Villanova. This is of no importance whatsoever, obviously, but something to watch.

While we're still talking basketball, Boo Radley, over at Atomic Teeth posted a very good piece on why Mike Anderson is not the right guy for the job at Missouri. As you might imagine, his main argument is the Anderson's "Forty Minutes of heck" style is not suited to win in the Big XII – or basically any time you don't have vastly superior athletes. You'll get no argument from me.

Keeping with Atomic Teeth, Phenomenal Smith also put together a good piece recently. His piece examines the bowl results of not only the Big XII, but the rest of the country as well. Especially appreciated is his ability to look a bit beyond a simple win and loss. Yes, the Pac 10 was 5-0 and proud we are of all of them. But it helps to take a more detailed gander every once in a while.

And finally, we have the Texas Top 125 as compiled by Burnt Orange Beat. After a quick glance, I noticed a few Kansas recruits:

Prinz Kande – 47th
Dexter Linton – 64th
Toben Opurum – 114th
Randall Dent – 121st
Chris Omigie – 122nd

By no means is getting five of the best 125 players in Texas any incredible accomplishment setting us apart as a program for years to come, but it's a step. And when you mix that talent with the JUCO commits we've received and the talent from the rest of the country, it's quite obvious that Mangino and his staff are putting together far and away the best class (on paper) since his arrival in Lawrence.

With the links out of the way, I want to briefly revisit last night’s win. Obviously we addressed the keys this morning. Now, I think it’s time to take a look at the grades. But before we do, I just want to point out one quick thing that caught my attention last night, but has no relevant place in this post… Right before the half, with Sherron on the bench, Ron Anderson caught the ball in the post, took several awkward dribbles with his back to the basket before putting up a hideous shot attempt that actually found it’s way through the net. Of course I wish he’d missed the shot, but that’s not what bothered me – what I couldn’t stomach to watch was how none of the guards came and stole the ball away from him. In the amount of time he was dribbling, Russell would have turned it into an easy layup at the other end and Mario just might have stolen it twice. The learning curve is a frustrating thing to watch sometimes, but that was one of those moments that I almost couldn’t bear to watch. What might have been if Mario and Darrell had opted for another year on the Oread…

Sherron Collins: A-. Foul problems (though one was a truly horrendous call), four turnovers, and a couple defensive lapses detract from on otherwise great performance. He was extremely efficient in getting 24 points on only 11 shots, while also collecting 5 boards and dishing out 4 assists.

Cole Aldrich: B+. Hard to get too upset when he only misses one shot and scores 15 points. But the six shots weren’t nearly enough (not necessarily his fault), especially in a game he should have dominated. I also would have expected more than 8 rebounds from him; though he did lose some minutes to some second half foul trouble (after not picking up a single one in the first). Again though, took care of the ball, was very efficient scoring and altered several shots, blocking two – hard to complain, but not his best game.

Tyshawn Taylor: A-. Was good on defense and great on offense, especially in the way he let the game come to him and took what the defense gave him. Like those already listed, he was very efficient in his scoring, racking up 20 points on only 8 shots. Factor in his 4 boards, three assists, 2 steals and block and that may have been his best all around game. Very Chalmers-like box score.

Brady Morningstar: B-. Didn’t look like himself all night offensively, but when it came down to it he hit the biggest shot of the night and then added a second triple a few minutes later. Generally played good defense as he’s become known to do, but didn’t collect a single rebound – out of position or not, that can’t happen from our starting wing. We’ll take 3 assists to 0 turnovers every time out though.

Mario Little: B. Still kind of guessing with him as the 13 minutes he played last night were a season high so we don’t know much yet. I think last night gave us an idea though as we saw some stuff from him offensively that we haven’t seen from anyone else on the roster. Added three boards and a block to his 8 points – hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Tyrel Reed: C+. I thought his defense, especially in the first half, was better than we’ve come to expect. But we need him to stretch the defense when he’s in and he just didn’t do much of that last night. Missed both threes, had 2 layups and was just 2-4 from the line for 6 total points. Great steal and finish to make it 18-0 early on, but we need more out of him.

Marcus Morris: B-. 7 boards and 2 steals in only 15 minutes is fantastic. But we need to be getting more than 3 points and 15 minutes out of him. He also needs to learn how to shoot free throws. Since he actually wasn’t in foul trouble, I’m guessing Bill was pretty displeased with his practice of late – also his defense wasn’t exactly stout, though not terrible either.

Markieff Morris: B-. I’m starting to like what he gives us, sans the fouls. He’s still not boxing out, but did come up with 5 boards to go along with 5 points, 1 block and assist. If we can get him to just move his feet and quit using his hands on defense, I think he fits in well at the four with his passing ability.

Overall, it was a nice win. Pretty much played out exactly as I had it scripted. I was actually thinking low eighties to mid sixties, but figured we’d start on a run, they’d claw their way back in it and we’d step up and close them out. I wish we wouldn’t let the middle part of that formula occur, but it’s what tends to happen and the Wildcats play hard every time out (see: offensive rebounding) so I knew they wouldn’t lay down. But you don’t apologize for conference wins, especially not 16 point wins in which you control 80% of the game. Like I said this morning, now we just need to figure out how to take this team with us on the road. I’m currently watching our weekend opponent trail the Leo Lyonsless Missouri Tigers by a score of 37-17 with a few minutes left in the first. Needles to say, they don’t look great. Probably time to switch over to Baylor/A&M; or Top Chef, for that matter...

37 for 39

2009-01-14T08:50:00.003-06:00

Well, that makes 37 out of 39 over the Aggies from the Sunflower State. It was a good win for the Hawks and hopefully a good sign of things to come for Tyshawn - I didn't much care for his freshman wall, though we all knew he'd have to hit it at some point.

Keys to the game from the preview...

Fast start
There is no better way to take the wind out of a lesser team's sails than to bury them early. If we got out of the gates fired up (we will) and we use it to build an early double-digit lead, we'll put the pressure on them to respond. And while they may be able to answer the bell, they haven't exactly dazzled on the road (see: losing at 6-10 Oregon). Much like us, they struggle when out of their comfort zone and they don't have the skill set or athleticism to play equalizer. However, they just played Oklahoma close – so if we let them hang around and build confidence, the pressure shifts over to our side in a very big, bad way.

I'd say we nailed this one with that whole 18-0 thing over the first few minutes. Hell, it was 9-0 before they even attempted a shot. It's a shame we let them bring it back so close, but a credit to them for being aggressive and getting to the line to put the pressure on.

Tempo
K-State isn't necessarily a plodding, slog it out kind of team. But given the location of the game, a fast pace should play to our favor. They don't have the athletes or the skill set to keep up if we're pressuring them and converting easy points in transition. Our half court offense certainly has it's moments, but I like us in transition a whole lot more. And just as importantly, I like our pressure defense much more than when we're set in a half court. Hell, this is what we did against Tennessee – who had a better athlete at nearly every position – and we still kept them at arms length throughout.

Another bullseye. We scored a very easy 87 and a big reason was our aggressive tempo leading to layups or kickouts for open looks. We shot the ball great last night, but I'd contend that any time we get that many good looks we'll shoot it that way or better. Aside from some truly horrific defense to start the second half, I have no complaints.

Control the boards
As they were last year, the Wildcats are exceptional at cleaning up on the offensive glass. They have very few skilled inside players, but they have just enough athleticism and hustle to get easy buckets for themselves. If this is limited, they'll struggle. Unfortunately, this is also something we struggle at limiting. We've allowed far too many offensive boards against teams not as adept at getting them and it has hurt us badly. Cole will hold up his end, but we need the Morris' best effort and we'll really need Brady, Mario 7 Travis to keep a body on Samuels and Sutton.

Well, two out of three ain't bad. They out-boarded us 37 to 34, which is fine, especially considering Cole was so limited the second half. More frustrating was the disparity on the offensive end - which they won 16-7. A tip of the cap to them for that one, but we need to block out better. A missed shot was their best offense, and that shouldn't happen.

And finally, from the comments we had GingerBalls' concern about how we'd attack the zone. They didn't play a ton of it per se, but it was used and even in their man they liked to sag down on Cole (only 6 shots) allowing for some very big lanes to the hole. And as you know, Sherron and Tyshawn took advantage, and as a result, we had a ton of easy shots that we mostly converted.

There may be a bit more to come on this later, but for now just be happy with a solid win. The game really couldn't have gone much more to script and now we just need to figure out how to take this act on the road. I can't think of a better place to start than Boulder.

Rock Chalk!

K-State Pregame

2009-01-13T14:44:00.003-06:00

**Real quick update** - Mario Little will be playing this evening and thus, will not be red-shirting this season. Here's to hoping it's the right decision and that he can get healthy in short order.

Heading into conference play, there are mixed emotions surrounding the Jayhawks. And that's mostly because there have been mixed performances by said Jayhawks. Fortunately, aside from a lazy 25 minutes against Siena, they're damn solid when enjoying the beautiful confines of Allen Fieldhouse.

The talent level tonight is nowhere near similar. But that will only take you so far. And much to my surprise, Frank Martin has formed a team that competes its ass off every time out. So far, Bill Self has not. I have little doubt that the latter will change – hopefully in short order.

Frontcourt
Guard play will control the game tonight, but what each team gets out of their frontcourt may be the difference. The Wildcats get 60 minutes out of their main interior players. Darren Kent leads the way and has been good for 9 points and six boards nightly. But at 6'11" 230, a banger he is not. Kent relies on solid range on his shot and length for rebounds. He couldn't out muscle Shawn Bradley. But that doesn't mean he isn't useful. We won't want to play him with Cole, as that would take both our best rebounder and interior defender away from the basket. So it will be up to the Morris twins to limit his looks and keep him off the offensive glass.

Similarly, they likely won't ask Kent to bang with Cole on the other end. I'd anticipate they'll instead put Luis Colon and even Ron Anderson on him, knowing that they have ten fouls to give as each player is good for pretty much the same production (20 minutes, 5 points, 5 boards). As is often the case, Cole will be far and away the best player on the court at his size - so a big game will be expected and needed out of him. What may or may not surprise you is that each of the Morris twins actually provide as much or more than both Anderson and Colon as well, along with having much more potential even in the short term.

Backcourt
The Wildcats are pretty much Villanova-light in the sense that they're nothing without their guards. Their three leading scorers all stand 6"2 or below. Clemente is as fast as they come and is actually a slightly better outside shooter than he gets credit for, but slightly worse than he likes to think of himself. If you can make him fall in love with the three, you're golden – and he will fall in love with it if you deny him lanes. Fred Brown is quite the opposite, relying entirely on his outside shot (43%). Deny him the ball, don't let him come off screens cleanly and he'll take himself out of the game. And finally, you have Jacob Pullen; he of the miraculous game in Bramlage and ultimate bed-shitting in Lawrence a year ago. But really, he's just a hybrid of his backcourt mates. He's not quite the shooter Brown is and he's not as fast as Clemente, but he's much more balanced than both – having the ability to get to the hole, but also to pull up and drain a shot from anywhere.

Perhaps unfairly, I'm also lumping in Dominique Sutton and Jamar Samuels here. Really, both are frontcourt players, having no outside games whatsoever. However, both are extremely athletic and will likely be guarded by Morningstar/Releford/Little, so I'm leaving them here. As mentioned, their outside games don't need to be respected, but both can get to the rim with the ball or in pursuit of a rebound and given that each will have a size advantage, they will be important to contain.

Whereas our advantage down low is noticeable, it's much more even on the perimeter. If we have early season Tyshawn and we're getting Brady and Tyrel open looks, then things should go very easily tonight. But if one or both of those components is missing, things could get a little dicey, especially if we're not moving our feet on defense and keeping their quick guards from creating a lot of offense. Quite simply, when their guards are careful with the ball and productive, K-State has some success. And expectedly, when they start getting out of control and turning it over, the success is much harder to come by. If we get good pressure defense and intelligent offense from our perimeter players, this should be a comfortable win. If we're missing either, we may have to sweat it out.

Primary Keys

Control the boards
As they were last year, the Wildcats are exceptional at cleaning up on the offensive glass. They have very few skilled inside players, but they have just enough athleticism and hustle to get easy buckets for themselves. If this is limited, they'll struggle. Unfortunately, this is also something we struggle at limiting. We've allowed far too many offensive boards against teams not as adept at getting them and it has hurt us badly. Cole will hold up his end, but we need the Morris' best effort and we'll really need Brady, Mario 7 Travis to keep a body on Samuels and Sutton.

Fast start
There is no better way to take the wind out of a lesser team's sails than to bury them early. If we got out of the gates fired up (we will) and we use it to build an early double-digit lead, we'll put the pressure on them to respond. And while they may be able to answer the bell, they haven't exactly dazzled on the road (see: losing at 6-10 Oregon). Much like us, they struggle when out of their comfort zone and they don't have the skill set or athleticism to play equalizer. However, they just played Oklahoma close – so if we let them hang around and build confidence, the pressure shifts over to our side in a very big, bad way.

Tempo
K-State isn't necessarily a plodding, slog it out kind of team. But given the location of the game, a fast pace should play to our favor. They don't have the athletes or the skill set to keep up if we're pressuring them and converting easy points in transition. Our half court offense certainly has it's moments, but I like us in transition a whole lot more. And just as importantly, I like our pressure defense much more than when we're set in a half court. Hell, this is what we did against Tennessee – who had a better athlete at nearly every position – and we still kept them at arms length throughout.

We haven't yet proven we can win on the road. But games in Allen have been a whole other story. And with any luck the crowd will be even louder than it was for Tennessee, because these young guys feed off that energy. Nationally, this game is a no-win situation – there's no excuse for losing to K-State and nothing gained by beating them. But internally, it's a huge opportunity to kick off the second season with a win and head to Boulder looking for their first on the road. It should be a great night in the Phog.

Inaugural Big XII Rankings

2009-01-12T20:51:00.001-06:00

I had intended to get a post together sometime last week in advance of conference play starting. But a you well know by now, that didn’t happen. So with ten teams having already tipped-off their 2009 conference season, I’ll now offer up my half-assed preview. But I gotta say, it doesn’t look pretty. In fact, all of college basketball appears pretty down this year and the Big XII is no exception whatsoever.

As of today, I’d rank the teams like so…

1. Oklahoma (15-1, 1-0). Personally, I haven’t been very impressed. Griffin and Warren are a great duo, but there isn’t much else to like. The best win was probably the neutral court OT victory over Purdue. Others in contention are close home wins over Davidson & USC as well as an unimpressive road win over K-State. In short, this team has proven very little despite their lofty record. The Arkansas loss doesn’t look too bad, but we’ll see.

2. Texas (12-3, 1-0). They probably have the most impressive resume of anyone, but I’m wholly unimpressed with them as well. The complete lack of PG play is sure to be their undoing and is greatly limiting what could be a very formidable team. They have a chance to score a huge victory tonight in Norman that would go along way towards not only their development, but in the conference race as well.

3. Baylor (13-2, 1-0). They really haven’t done all that much either, but they have won at least one road game (@ Wazzu) – a rarity in this league so far. Outside of that, the Arizona State win is to like and they don’t have to apologize for the loss to Wake. The home loss to South Carolina was pretty despicable though. I was also pretty uninspired by a close home win over what appears to be a pretty awful Tech team. To me, they just look like the same Baylor team that only competes when the ball is in their hands. They’re loaded with potential, but if they’re going to compete for this league, they need to get it going pretty quickly as their schedule is no cakewalk.

4. Kansas (11-4, 0-0). I like to think they’ll go 8-0 at home in league play. And from the looks of it, they may need to if they want to have any hope of winning the conference. They also need to take advantage of their early schedule to get things off and running on the right foot. First chance is tomorrow night in the Phog against a slightly better than expected K-State team.

5. Oklahoma State (12-3, 1-0). The Rhode Island win isn’t bad; neither is Siena. The losses to Michigan State & Gonzaga were expected and loss at Washington only looks bad because of the margin (18). They’ve got five double digit scorers and Thomas is pretty legit, but that’s where it ends. We’ll see how far six-deep takes them.

6. Texas A&M (14-2, 0-1). If this is the sixth best team, we’ve got a problem. The Arizona win is solid and the win @ Alabama will hold up nicely. Aside from that, there’s nothing to speak of in the win column (possibly LSU) while the loss @ OSU is excusable, losing to Tulsa at home was not. I’m not a believer yet, but we’ll soon find out as theyhave a very real chance at starting out league play 0-5 (Baylor, OU, @ KU, @ Texas are their next four).

7. Missouri (13-3, 0-1). The Cal win looks magnificent. And I’ll give them some credit for beating USC and winning at Georgia (though Texas A&M Corpus Christi accomplished the same and Wofford was but one point in OT away from it as well). Aside from that, there’s nothing in the win column, a respectable loss to Xavier and two awful ones to Illinois and @ Nebraska. They seem plenty dangerous and capable of making the tournament, but unless the Cal win really holds up (I’m not convinced yet) they’ve got so little out of conference that they can’t afford to lose games to the likes of Nebraska.

8. Kansas State (11-4, 0-1). Their best win on the season: @ Cleveland State. Yep, that’s the best one. And it’s not even close. Losses came on the road against 6-10 Oregon, a neutral court to Kentucky & Iowa, and this past weekend at home to Oklahoma. They’re by no means a tournament team, but they’ve got enough talent and home court advantage to put together a respectful conference season.

9. Nebraska (11-3, 1-0). They have a decent win over Creighton and a better one over Missouri. All of the others meant nothing. They had two understandable losses to @ ASU and Oregon State and one unforgivable one to Maryland-Baltimore County. I like Harley and Dagunduro (even Henry to an extent) and their resident Cookie is a decent distributor, but Sadler just doesn’t have much to work with up there.

10. Iowa State (11-5, 0-1). Brackins is an all-league type player, but he’s got little else around him. By Cyclone standards, the resume isn’t completely terrible – wins over Oregon State, UNI and @ Houston, but with losses @ Hawaii, to Drake, @ Iowa, to South Dakota State and this past weekend at Texas (though they deserve credit for keeping it very close in Austin).

11. Texas Tech (10-6, 0-1). There’s some players and some promise on this team. But it just isn’t getting them very far. Their notable wins pretty much end with Mississippi State and Wichita State. And after playing Pitt close in defeat, they’ve lost to Lamar, UTEP, TCU and Baylor and were absolutely run off the court @ Stanford (111-66). Yikes.

12. Colorado (8-6, 0-0). This is familiar territory for the Buffs and really there’s no reason to dissect their schedule as there are no wins even worth speaking of and really there’s only one forgivable loss – at Stanford, surprisingly by only 14. Higgins is a real nice player, but he has slightly less than nothing else around him at all times.

So there it is, my inaugural Big XII Power Rankings for 2009. Oklahoma and Texas are legit, though neither have any hope of winning the title and neither really looks Final Four worthy – though the rest of the country is down this year as well. Kansas and Baylor have potential, but neither are disciplined or balanced enough to really do anything. OSU, A&M, and Missouri all could be tournament teams, but all could miss it just as easily. KSU and maybe even Nebraska are in that next rung far above the bottom three, which are just horrendously awful. In all, the conference looks worse than it has in a while. In fact, I’d say it's no better than fourth overall behind the Big East, ACC and even the Big TelevEN (ouch). The Pac 10 may have an argument, the SEC does not. Let’s hope things improve soon – I’m not sure I’m ready for a world in which the Big TelevEN is considered superior to the Big XII.

Congrats Are In Order

2009-01-12T15:45:00.005-06:00

For one Baby Mangino. Yes, I know his real name, but it matters not as he is only to be referred to here as Baby Mangino, aka, your 2008 SHOTY winner. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well done, sir. Note: be sure to take the link above as it contains a pretty wonderful One Shining Moment in honor of the 2008 SHOTY awards and eventual winner. In other news, the Tebow:Jesus connection seems to be strengthening. Danielson and Brennaman will be thrilled.

Going Forward

2009-01-11T21:10:00.004-06:00

For all the talk – by myself and pretty much everyone else – about how unpredictable this Kansas team is, I no longer think that statement is very accurate. I centered my Arizona preview on the fact that no one had any idea what to expect and unsurprisingly we saw two completely different Kansas teams play that night, ultimately leading to a lopsided loss. Since then, the Hawks have had two lazy wins, one big one and yesterday’s loss. With those results as the indicator, it would be easy to continue perpetuating the inconsistency/unpredictable card. But in doing so, I think we’re just making a sweeping generalization that isn’t very descriptive of this team.

Are they inconsistent? Of course. That’s why they don’t run an offense for an entire half and only score 18 points yet come out the next half and put up 44 rather easily (I say easily only because of how many points were still left out there). But are they unpredictable? Not really. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect them to play their worst half of the season yesterday. But I was pretty positive they would get taken out of their offense, get a little flustered and fall behind by a decent margin. I also expected them to learn from the debacle that was the second half at Arizona and keep fighting to the end. As we all know by now, that’s exactly what happened. And honestly, there was no good reason to expect otherwise.

In looking back at our fifteen non-conference games, there’s really only one surprise: UMass (of which there is no logical explanation). They played seven games against nothing teams and won them all handily. Though lazy in victory, they handled Siena fine. They had very impressive and underappreciated wins over Temple and especially Washington. They came out fired up against Tennessee and held them off in very impressive fashion for a great home win. The three losses to Syracuse, @ Arizona and @ MSU were all ugly in their own way, but plenty understandable. Obviously we gave it away against Syracuse. And we only played half games at Arizona and Michigan State. You don’t excuse those mistakes, but you do expect them. That’s just who this team is right now. We have two players we can count on every time out, while the rest are still finding their way. Add that up and there’s absolutely no reason to expect them to come out and handle tough opponents in tough road environments. That doesn’t mean it can’t (or won’t) happen, just that it shouldn’t be expected.

Fortunately, our conference schedule works out pretty favorably early on. As you all know, we start with a visit from the purple. An easy game it will not be. But there’s no better way to come off a tough road loss than to come home and play in a fired up Allen Fieldhouse. Win that and we’ll get some swagger back. Even more fortunate is the location of our first road game: Boulder. All conference road games are tough in their own way, but we have a way of turning the Coors Events Center into Allen Fieldhouse West – not to mention that Colorado is probably the worst team in the league this year. Like I said, we can’t expect this team to band together and win in a tough road environment. My expectation is that Colorado won’t fit into that category. But that doesn’t mean the players can’t build on it as if it were.

The way I look at things is that we’re learning lessons the hard way. We used our losses against Syracuse and Arizona to keep us focused and driven against Tennessee. And while it didn’t turn into a win, I think we used our Arizona loss yesterday in East Lansing. Arizona started to make a run, took the lead, and we invariably crumbled. On the other hand, Michigan State dominated us in every way for an entire half yesterday. And true to suit, we crumbled. But then we fought back. In fact, we battled so well that we were one in-and-out three pointer away from only being down six points with 3 minutes to go (* Random note below). The next step is winning. And while a win in Boulder won’t mean what one in Tucson or East Lansing would have, it would still be a step. Without getting too far ahead of myself, I’d venture to say that a win in Boulder very well could lead to a 6-0 conference start.

Bonus unrelated material: Like most any sports fanatic, I enjoy the occasional road game. I kind of enjoy being the outcast, but really I just enjoy seeing new arenas (or stadiums) and observing how things are done elsewhere. Quite unexpectedly, I got to visit the Breslin Center for yesterday’s game. Going into the game, I was thinking the Spartans might under whelm me, but the Breslin Center would impress. The opposite occurred. First for the home team: they’re athletic, deep, well coached and just plain talented. If they don’t win the Big TelevEN, I’ll be stunned. They have the look of a very dangerous 2 or 3 seed come March. But I just didn’t care for the Breslin Center. It’s not that it’s a bad place – far from it – but I think the prefect description is that it’s a small NBA arena. It’s a nice facility on the outside, concourse is okay, but really it’s just a lot of spread out plastic seatbacks, two levels, and very little intimacy. I love the setup of the Izzone, keeping the students so close to the court, but aside from them there is almost nothing good to speak of. There is no tradition, no history and really, no fan involvement of any kind. For reference, the fans did not stand up in unison once during game play. And more shocking than all that was the complete lack of noise. I’m guessing the Izzone members keep the court pretty loud, but the rest of the arena may as well have been at a James Taylor concert. I would always recommend you find out for yourself, but if you plan on heading up there, keep your expectations low.

*Random note about yesterday's deficit/comeback attempt. As Cole Aldrich was sinking two free throws with somewhere between 7 and 8 minutes left I noticed the score was 58-42. And immediately I realized how frustrating that deficit really was. As bad as Kansas had played, they were 9-18 from the line at that time and they had missed three alley-oops. Convert those 16 points and it's a one point game. Hell, convert the alley-oops and shoot 12/18 (67% compared to our 73% for the year) and you're down a mere 7 with over 7 minutes to play. But again, that's who this team is. They're not a good road team yet. These type of mistakes are ridiculous and too much to overcome against good opponents, but they're still to be expected for the time being. Let's just hope they don't persist too much into league play.

MSU Preview

2009-01-09T22:32:00.004-06:00

Before we begin, the Kevin Young saga has apparently come to an end. Always nice to win a commit from the Huskers, especially twice.

On to the big match-up between KU-MSU at the Breslin Center. *esteemed cohort hiphopotamus will be in attendance....who will later be seen at Omar's Show Bar telling the strippers "Sherron's coming back!!!!"

Quick Keys to the Game:

How we respond to their toughness. It is our biggest concern given our oft flakey rebounding and at times softer than Self wants defense. Michigan State holds a slight advantage in rebounds per game(#28 over KU at #30), but given the quality of opponents, MSU has the edge.
Aligning the stars. Sherron and Cole need to be in beast mode for 40 minutes. Is Sherron involving everyone and creating shots not only for himself? How does Cole bang with Suton/Roe/Morgan? Can he stay out of foul trouble and be a force over both halfs?
Offense in motion. If KU is moving the ball well and letting the offense get into rhythm they can be unstoppable. Yet, the biggest weakness so far this year with the offense is our lulls when we find ourselves incapable of moving without the ball. Can we stay focused for 40 minutes for the first time this year and move sans ball while continuing to keep Cole involved and not forcing Sherron to do too much? Tyshawn will be the key factor, outside of Sherron, to keep the offense less stagnant.
Raymar Morgan on lock down. Who do we have to shut down Raymar? Maybe the better question is how many fouls do we have to throw at him. Our forwards are not uber polished in the defensive arts, given their youth, but are quite athletic and we do have about 20 fouls from Morris-squared/Little/Thomas.

As will be the case all year, KU can win this game. A win will solidify our thoughts about the improvement and talent of this team. Michigan State is the solid front-runner for the Big 10 and will be a top 3 seeded team come March, so obviously a win will be a huge bonus heading into Big 12 play. What does a loss mean? Well it depends on how we lose and how we compete. A blowout would be an immense development crisis to this squad, while a close loss really wouldn't be all that bad. Going into the Breslin Center and competing with our youth would be a outcome that Self could build on towards the future.

Of course we are not conceding a loss and in true homer fashion, I fully believe KU will be in this until the end. Though we have not proven we can win on the road, I feel this is the breakout. Rock Chalk and pray like Tim Tebow for the Hawks.

KU 78 - MSU 73

Q&A: Michigan State

2009-01-08T12:26:00.008-06:00

Since the season is young and most of what I've seen of Michigan State came early and sans Goran Suton, I'm deferring my expertise on them for the time being. Here to help us out is Sparty from the superb blog, Sparty & Friends - if nothing else, I'm sure you'll like their tagline. Anyway, thanks go out to Sparty for taking the time to be with us and bestow upon his knowledge of all things Spartan.

1. In reading your MSU preview prior to the season, you call them the heir to our national championship throne. How much do you really believe that assertion, especially given what transpired at Ford Field?

First of all, let me thank you for the opportunity to speak with you and your audience. I just finished perusing your site, a lot of great things.

Now, to your question. I believe Michigan State can win the national title. The point of that article was to state the case of why they would be the national champion at the end of this season (our in-house UConn and Tennessee writers did the same thing for their respective schools). I don't believe they are the favorites, especially after what went down at Ford Field. However, that does not mean they can't beat UNC, even though the Tar Heels already won by 30. November and early December blowouts and losses can not be read into that much. The Spartans had just played 3 straight games in Orlando at the Old Spice Classic, had a couple days of rest and then had to play a rested UNC team. I am going to say that the tired legs accounted for 10 of the pts. Consider that Goran Suton did not play in that game. That allowed constant perimeter pressure on our guards. Also, Heralded frosh Delvon Roe, coming off two knee surgeries, was not ready to shoulder that load, there is another 8-10 pts. So with the idea that both teams are rested and healthy, I say we need to find a way to make up about 10 pts to pull even with them. UNC can be beat, as witnessed by them dropping a game at home to the Harvard-losing-Boston College. We will need them to have an off night though. When they are at the top of their game, not sure if anyone can beat them. I know Pitt is number 1 right now, but they like to bang like we do; nobody out muscles us. We proved that last year when we beat them in the tourney.

I don't have confidence in this team like I did in the 2000 team. Nobody was beating us that year for the title. This team reminds me more of the 1999 team. It was a team that I thought we could win with, but other things needed to happen for it to come true. I contend that the Final Four from 1999 was one of the best ever. [Ed. note: I think we all recall who won the best ever Final Four.]

2. In the Big 10, I look at MSU as the absolute favorite. But after that I can see another 6 or 7 teams making the NCAA tourney. Would you agree with both of those statements - why or why not?

With Purdue stumbling out of the gate, we are most definitely the favorites now. However, Wisconsin is always lurking. I hate those guys. I do agree with you that the Big TelevEN can produce 7 tournament teams; here is what I see now: MSU, Purdue, Wisconsin, OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Minnesota. Though, Ohio State needs to get it together soon. I could see them missing out now and the Illini sneaking in.

3. Obviously Raymar Morgan is your best all around player - how can he be stopped? Personally, I just think he's a guy you stay in front of, always block out and do the best you can to frustrate because he's too athletic and skilled to completely shut down.

Raymar Morgan stops Raymar Morgan. If he misses a few open looks, or a layup rims out, he sometimes gets frustrated and takes himself out of games. I do not think he can be locked down when his head is in the game.

4. As great as Morgan is, I'd say Kalin Lucas is more important to your success. Would you agree? Why or why not?

Totally agree. He leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, and his quickness and ball skills makes him almost impossible to play pressure defense on. He gets everyone involved, and after an early season shooting slump, his shot has to be respected as much as his ability to get into the paint with his dribble. He is uber talented.

5. Suton is clearly important to what you do and given that you were without him, I pretty much expected the UNC result. Maryland, not so much. What happened there?

I pretty much detailed Suton's impact on the UNC loss. It forced us to play small against Maryland, which Izzo doesn't like to do. He likes to run (which he wasn't able to do the last few years), but he likes his trees inside. Also, the start of the season was a little slow for MSU because they were still trying to figure out who they were. Remember, the last two years this was a team that was strictly a halfcourt, minimize the other teams possessions. The offense ran through Drew Neitzel. It was nothing but ball movement and high screens to free him up. So, that all mixed in with playing poorly cost us the game against Maryland. We play them now? We thump them.

6. Across the board, both MSU and Kansas are nearly identical in team statistics. Where do you think you have the advantage? Where do you think you're at a disadvantage?

I always think State have the advantage in rebounding, and I have a right to think that way. We have always been a great rebounding team, and rarely do we lose games on the boards. Our biggest disadvantage is at the line. Our FT shooting is horrendous. 65% is not good. Stats this time of year are not very telling, since nobody is playing the same competition. I think Northwestern held 15 straight opponents to under 70pts until they played us. Does that mean they are a good defensive team? Not at all. It means they played nobody, and held the ball on offense until there was no time left on the shot clock.

7. Out of curiosity, do you think Izzo will retire a Spartan? I mostly ask because I've heard that he has looked elsewhere from time to time and am curious if you've heard the same type of things.

Izzo is not leaving. Obviously he has listened to offers from the NBA, but he loves the college game. He knows his style wouldn't work with NBA players. Could you imagine him barking at a guy making 10 million a year? That works in college, not in the pros.

8. Back to the game, Michigan State will win if...

They show up. No, I'm kidding. They rebound the basketball, capitalize on second chance opportunities, and make it a point to go inside to Roe and Suton.

9. And finally, what's your score prediction?

79-65. The Izzone returns from Christmas break and will be ready to welcome the Jayhawks to the Breslin Center.

In honor of this game, I would like to wish you a VERY belated HAPPY MULLET WEDNESDAY! As you see though, I've done my best to make it up to you by locating this absurb snapshot of a couple unsuspecting, yet hardworking, ballers. We're going to need that same type of tenacity and focus on Saturday.

No Apologies

2009-01-07T11:56:00.003-06:00

So it wasn't a beautiful win. Who cares? Siena is a solid team, especially offensively, and we beat them. With a young group of guys coming off an emotionally charged win Saturday and about to embark on a trip to East Lansing later this week, I'll take it. Admittedly, any time you lead a team 30-10, the game probably shouldn't be in single digits over the last few minutes. But at least they held on. Had they played this same game on December 13th, that might not have been the case.

I truly believe everything I wrote in that paragraph. And yet I can't get over the fact that as soon as it was 30-10, everyone in the building (fans maybe even earlier) effectively boarded a plane to Michigan. Fortunately, Cole forgot his bags and bailed us out the entire second half. And because he kept us ahead, Sherron was able to hit some shots, all the fans even stood up at the 5:59 mark, and ultimately the team focused in, made their free throws and exited with a nice win. But that doesn't excuse the complete lack of effort or anything resembling defense.

When last year's team got way ahead, sometimes they would relax and let teams back in the game. It was frustrating at the time, but when the game was over you didn't really care, because we had a known quantity in them. We don't have that this year. Whether or not we get their best performance, we know Sherron and Cole are coming to play everyday. We don't know that with everyone else. So why, if you're a new guy fighting for minutes, trying to get better every time on the court to become the best team you can be, are you checking out halfway through the first half?!

I'm not going to bother grading anyone out, because only Cole played a full game anyway. I will make some quick notes though…

Tyshawn – no more heat checks. By all means, shoot when you're open. But that quick three attempt in the first half was one of the worst shots anyone on this team has taken all year. Coming from a PG who is supposed to get others involved, it probably was the worst. While we're here, those were some of the laziest passes I've ever seen.

Sherron – I don't expect you to play every game like you did against Tennessee. It's unfair and unrealistic. But if you're really the leader, you should always have your head on straight. For a long while last night, it wasn't.

Bill – Please, please, please teach this team a few in bounds plays. I'd love to see a couple screens against the press, but for now I'd at least settle for a couple when we're under our basket. I know it's not priority one, but I also know that as a 10 year old my team had a handful of them that all worked and everyone could remember just fine. On level of difficulty, this is near the bottom.

That's plenty for now. We all know exactly what happened last night and all we can do is hope it doesn't resurface again. Siena is a tournament team that played @ #1 Pittsburgh and only lost by 13 - with DeJuan Blair playing the role of Cole Aldrich. So we shouldn't apologize for beating them. But when you hold a 20-point lead and it ends up that the singular difference between a win and a loss is your center, that's ridiculous. I truly can't say enough about Cole after last night. Ever since his no-show in Tucson, he's been nothing short of phenomenal and we'll need it to continue against Suton if we have a prayer this Saturday.

Beak 'Em, Hawks!

Let's Go Back There

2009-01-06T13:39:00.000-06:00

I fell in love with Tempe a little bit last week. Funny how that happens. In just one year, I found myself adding three cities to my list of favorites: Miami, San Antonio & Tempe. They aren't quite to the top and likely never will be, but all received significant bumps. So instead of another this year, I'd rather return. Specifically, I want to head back to the desert to play in the Fiesta Bowl. And surprisingly, it's not that far fetched of an idea.

Recall if you will my 2009 predictions made several weeks back. I went with a semi-conservative 9-3 with all three losses coming to the south powers. However, what I failed to realize at the time is that I likely just went with the odds in all twelve games.

Consider: All four of our non-conference games should be easy wins. Duke and Southern Miss aren't quite as bad as they sound, but we'll have no trouble with them in Lawrence. Ditto for Northern Colorado, who is as bad as they sound. And the one road game, @ UTEP, while not an easy place to play should still be a comfortable win. That's 4-0.

Next we look to conference play. Of our north games, we have to travel to Colorado & Manhattan. Boulder is never an easy place to win and the Buffs have plenty of talent to improve. Still, this is a game in which the Hawks will be favored. K-State is a different kind of game entirely. From what I can tell, the talent is lower than it's been in 20 years. And while the coaching staff looks to be solid, it's all brand new so the transition won't be easy. Given what this win would mean to the fan base, it's by no means a sure thing, but again, we'll be plenty favored. Win those and we're 6-0 (2-0).

Our north homes games will be against Iowa State, Nebraska and Missouri @ Arrowhead. I doubt I'll get any arguments assuming a win in the first. Nebraska will be much tougher, but given the Lawrence location and that they'll be replacing their quarterback, along with the top two receivers – a win seems plenty within reach. And really, the trip to Arrowhead is much the same. We don't get to play it in Lawrence, unfortunately, but like Nebraska the Tigers will be replacing their quarterback and top two receivers. Winning all three of these won't be easy, but it should be done. 9-0 (5-0).

Then you have the three big ones from the south. All were losses this year and interestingly, the closest was the 14 point loss in Norman. And frankly, next year's south schedule is technically a little tougher. Whereas both UT and Tech came to Lawrence this year, we'll have to travel south in '09 and we'll only get the Sooners to head this way. So admittedly, winning even one won't be easy. But it also won't be impossible. Assuming McCoy stays, we shouldn't count on anything in Austin. But Texas Tech will lose Harrell, Reed, Woods & Morris and they're almost certain to lose Crabtree too - recall how they looked against Ole Miss without him at full strength. Similarly, Oklahoma may very well lose Bradford (let's assume they do). And they will lose Cooper, Robinson, Loadholt, Iglesias, Johnson, etc. Obviously both have plenty of talent behind those voids (that latter much more so), but that's still a lot of new talent to break in. I'm not saying we'll beat both, but winning one of those games isn't beyond the realm of possibility. Let's be optimistic and say we do. Now we're 10-2 (6-2) and getting ready to play the Big XII Championship against Texas.

Despite Texas forgetting there was a first half last night, they're a damn good team. Unfortunately, for them, they're losing a whole lot of talent (i.e. Miller, Orakpo, Cosby, Melton, Dockery, etc.) from this year's team. But on their brighter side, they return the centerpiece in Colt McCoy - in addition to Shipley getting a sixth year. So if indeed the conference takes a step back, Texas is in great position to run through it on their way to the MNC. If that happens, the Fiesta Bowl opens up and will be there for the taking.

Could Kansas fill that spot? It would certainly depend on how the rest of the country performs as well. But at 10-3, two of their losses would have come to either the #1 or #2 team in the nation and the third would have either come in Lubbock against a good Tech team or at home to an always tough Oklahoma squad. Now, by no means has Kansas arrived on the national scene – so their name and/or reputation will get them nowhere. But in their last three bowls, they've been closer geographically once – yet they've taken many more fans each time. Specifically, they took 25,000+ to Tempe this year for a third tier bowl. What would they take for a BCS game there? Remember, the Fiesta also puts on the Insight – so Kansas just developed a relationship with them and brought them a whole lot of money they weren't necessarily expecting. Like it or not, money talks, especially when it comes to the BCS.

There it is – that's my case for Kansas returning not only to Arizona, but to the BCS as well. Any takers?

Who Lost a Red Shirt?

2009-01-05T12:35:00.003-06:00

As you may have surmised by now, creativity is not really my thing. That's why I stole Scipio's Big Board idea early on in the year (my first post and my revised post heading into conference play) and while I'll be stealing Phenomenal Smith's Redshirt Evaluation idea on this day. In fact, I'll even paraphrase (plagiarize) his thoughts on how convenient it is to have hindsight when evaluating whether or not the staff made the right decision in burning the red shirts they did. The following is a list of the true freshman that played this year and my thoughts about the decision to play them.

Easy Decisions

Daymond Patterson. Despite a roller coaster of a year, Daymond was the clear no-brainer of this class. He started off with a bang returning a punt for a TD in his first game and followed that up with 2 TDS and 100+ yards receiving in his second. From there, he really dropped off as a receiver and was soon relegated to just returning punts. However, where he made his biggest impact was switching to corner late in the year and surprisingly becoming a damn good one. He gives up size to every guy he faces, but with his speed and hips he rarely finds himself out of position and was barely even thrown at (a very good sign) in the last few games. I'm not sure what the plan is going forward, but Mangino seems to have found something with him at corner.

Tim Biere. After all the pre-season talk of Dedeaux, Steward and even recruits Hawkinson & Plato, it was Biere who seized control of the starting TE spot and he never let go. He wasn't used much as a receiver (6 catches for 65 yards), but he never disappointed when called upon there and demonstrated his real strength as a great blocker. As our tackles get better, it won't be as necessary to leave him in to help and I anticipate he'll become even more of a pass catching threat as the years go on.

Darius Parish. An absolute beast as a true freshman Parish saw plenty of meaningful snaps and gave us much needed depth at DT – a place where we had plenty of injuries this season. He didn't really have the stamina or motor to play more than a couple plays at a time, but when he was in there he did a great job holding his gap and clogging the middle. With improved conditioning and a quicker get-off, he could really develop into a great tackle for us in the near future.

Plenty Defensible

Ben Leuken. He was on the two-deep all season, so that's plenty of reason right there despite us never actually needing him due to injury. But more than that, I firmly believe Mangino wants him to assume the starting RT position next year so Spikes can move to left and Hatch can move inside. Operating under this assumption, it made plenty of sense to get him some time there and see how he handled Big XII game speed. His series were always limited, so we don't know if he could bring that same energy for a whole game, but judging from what I saw he didn't disappoint as a true freshman.

Corrigan Powell. After seeing him play plenty early and not at all late, you might consider this one a mistake. And really, I can't argue that. He never looked ready for this level with any sort of consistency. But considering the troubles we were having against the pass, I understand why the staff wanted to give him a shot. The same was true of Harris a year ago and that worked out well, so while this didn't yield the same result, I understand the decision.

Willie O'Quinn & Greg Brown. I'm lumping them in together, because I'm really not sure if Greg Brown ever played. For some reason O'Quinn is absent from the participation reports, but I noticed him on most special teams units throughout the last half of the season. Brown is actually listed and credited with a couple tackles. Now seems like a good time to note that both are #27, so I've got to think the stat guys messed this one up. We'll operate under that assumption. And since O'Quinn's use directly coincided with the special teams realignment (and improvement) I'm fine with his use. He filled his lane in kick coverage and was a gunner on punts, so the coaches seems to like what he gives us. I guess my analysis with Brown would be similar, though I never remember noticing him on the field.

Questionable

Josh Richardson. After seeing the success of Holt as an undersized LB, Richardson (6'4" 200) seems like a guy with potential. And given that he's from Ohio, I like to think we must have seen something we liked to even have us recruiting that part of the country. Yet we burned his RS to get him on the field against Colorado & Texas, games 6 & 11, respectively. Again, I'm not sure what the plans are for him but that doesn't seem like nearly enough action to warrant the loss of a season.

I had planned to have Steven Johnson and Rod Harris, Jr. in this section as both played early on, but never saw the field after South Florida. However, a much more informed friend, Denverjayhawk of Rock Chalk Talk, recently told me that both had their red shirts in tact. With that knowledge, it looks like we used seven (or eight) true freshmen this season. Three were huge contributors. Three (or four) were used with enough consistency to be considered worthwhile. And only one seems truly questionable at this point, given what I know. That's a pretty good use of our freshman and knowing who we saved, along with those set to join the roster next year, I think we're well aligned for the near future.

One thing that will be interesting to watch is who we use next year. On one hand, the class looks to be far better than any other Mangino has brought in. However, the talent in front of them is also probably better than any other he has had. There are a couple places of need that I expect to see new guys contribute, but there's a chance we could be developing some already good players for a year without ever having to throw them into the fire. That would be a great sign of not only where the program is now, but also how it will look going forward.

A Pearl of a Win

2009-01-04T13:20:00.002-06:00

So that’s what Bill means when he says that we’ll only go as far as Sherron takes us. Fair enough. He still played well in the second half, but his first half was about as good as a point guard can play offensively. 14 points. 5 assists. 0 turnovers. And just as importantly, he truly controlled the game in every sense of the word.

Another factor that controlled the game was the crowd. That was the best Allen Fieldhouse crowd I’ve been a part of since last year’s K-State game and; despite what the Tennessee players say, I think it rattled them. Whether it was the name, the history or just the noise, they got a bit too hyped and weren’t able to play with anything between their ears for about ten minutes. Lucky for us, Sherron and Cole came out firing and the young guys followed suit to the tune of a 25-9 lead before the twelve minute mark. Two stats really stood out to me: the first was the 25 assists on 34 FGs - that’s great ball movement and; secondly, our +6 edge in team rebounding. They had a size advantage at nearly ever position and always sent four to the glass and yet we still came away with more – very impressive, despite allowing them 18 on the offensive end.

As we all knew would happen Tennessee got their act together to make a few runs. Impressively, we always responded – keeping them at arms length throughout. As much as I enjoyed the first eight minutes and as much as I love blowing out good teams, I was happy that Tennessee was able to make those runs. It showed a lot about our guys that they were able to revel in the moment and use the energy in the building to their advantage. But it showed a lot more about them that they were able to withstand several runs and battle it out for a victory.

As you may recall, this same thing happened against Syracuse. Only that time, we were never able to re-stretch our lead after their runs. And in the end, we missed a couple free throws, they made a couple plays and all of a sudden we’re losing in overtime. Yesterday, whenever Tennessee made a push we responded by getting a bucket, getting a stop and thus, keeping them at safe distance. The loss to ‘Cuse was frustrating, but if it was part of teaching us how to win like we did yesterday, then it served a viable purpose.

Player Report Cards…

Sherron Collins: A. I won’t give him an A+ because of the four turnovers. But those aside, he couldn’t have been much better. 26 points on 14 shots. 9 assists (and should have been more). 5 boards and 1 steal. Just a great game from every perspective.

Cole Aldrich: A. Same as with Sherron, I can’t quite give Cole a perfect grade because of his three turnovers. But other than that, we can’t ask for more. 10-14 for 22 points and of course his standard 10 boards. Mix in 6 blocks (and another 8+ altered) and a nice job of staying out of foul trouble against a quick team (37 minutes) and you’ve got yourself a dominant game from your center.

Tyshawn Taylor: B. He played better than that, but he only played 23 minutes because of his fouls. 6-11 for 12 points was great. But just as helpful were his three assists to only 1 turnover. And despite fouling a couple times too many, I really liked how he played defense – generally keeping the athletic Vols out of the lane and tempting them to shoot from the outside.

Brady Morningstar: B. I know some people get a little frustrated with him and did especially so yesterday with the inbounding struggles (not all his fault – see below), but he’s really surpassed expectations. Hit 3 of 5 threes to up his team-leading percentage to 47.8% on the year. Add in his six assists, four rebounds and sound defense and we really have to be pleased with what he’s giving us.

Markieff Morris. C. Given that he fouled out in seven minutes, it probably should be worse. But in those meager minutes he was 2-2 for four points, stole us a possession with an offensive rebound, got another on the defensive end and didn’t turn the ball over. Extrapolate that out and you’ve got yourself one nice game…

Marcus Morris: C+. Marcus also fouled out, but he made it to 20 minutes. The airball and four turnovers weren’t his finest moments. But I thought he did some really nice things otherwise. For starters, his defense (though a bit too handsy) was pretty good on some very skilled players. And beyond that he scored 7 points, came up with 6 boards (2 0), 2 assists and 2 steals.

Tyrel Reed: B. Kind of a weird game for Tyrel. Didn’t do anything too bad (0 TOs), but never really came up with a consistent presence despite playing 24 minutes. He hit a very big three after Tennessee had made a little run and finished 2-5 from deep leading to 8 total points. Also came up with 2 offensive boards and had 2 assists.

Mario Little: B+. Which is really just a random guess since I have no idea what to expect out of him. For one thing, I was happy he gave us 10 minutes. And for another, I loved how active he was – coming up with 5 boards and 2 assists in that short time frame. He missed all three of his shots, but his form and release look good – and I think we’ll really like how he fits in the rotation as he gets acclimated.

Travis Releford: B-. Only got out there for 8 minutes and came up with four boards in that time. Still doesn’t look close to comfortable in the half court offense, but is making an impact defensively and on the glass.

All in all, I give the team a collective A- for the performance. From top to bottom I could not have been more pleased with every facet of the game except one: inbounding the ball. That was hideous. Luckily we got a few easy buckets off Tennessee’s over-pursuit, but it was generally horrible. And for that I think equal blame goes to the players and the staff. Each and every time we actually ran a play/set a screen we freed someone for a pretty easy look. Yet the other 25 times we simply stood around or guys broke on their own just trying to get open. Given our past athletes/ballhandlers, I can kind of see why we thought it could work, but not with this group of young guys. Set a damn screen. Run a damn play. If for some reason we didn’t count on that type of pressure (which would be inexcusable), do something to adjust.

But that aside, I have no qualms. The ball movement was great. Half court execution was pretty good. Transition offense was extremely good. And team defense was generally excellent. There were some bad fouls and brain cramps, but we moved our feet well and always got a hand up – ultimately leading to them shooting 39% after catching fire late. Anytime we’re plus 12% on FG% and win the battle of the boards, we’re going to be pretty tough to beat. Now we need to take care of Siena and see if we can’t really take a step by winning in East Lansing.

Rock Chalk!

Baby "Hawks vs. Fighting Greaseballs Mini-Preview

2009-01-03T12:01:00.004-06:00

About an hour before gametime and we needed to get something posted for what is sure to be an exciting and telling match-up between KU-Tennessee. Some things to watch for:

How KU handles the speed and pressure of Tennessee's gaurds. The hectic nature of the Pearl press should give us great insight into the moxie of this team.
Who do they have that can match-up with Cole? Seems like we could lean on Cole heavily today, seeing as Pearl typical throws a team out there sans center to be optimal in the press. Tennessee does have a 6'-11" guy in Brian Williams, who has had a fair amount of action, but their modus operandi is having Chism fly around in the back of the press.
The X factor. As always needs to be mentioned when playing at the Phog, how will the raucous crowd affect Tennessee's play? With a ranked, name team coming in and even though the students are gone....it will be crazy today. Best non-con game at home so far, uptempo pace, ugly bright orange jersees, it's all there folks.

This could be a season changing victory and would obviously be our premier victory so far. On the flip-side, a loss would not kill the season in any way, it would just make improving our seed for the tournament that much more difficult later on without a non-con defining win. We need to be able to show that we can beat teams that are above average talent, badly.

Hiphops prediction: Baby 'Hawks 76 - Pat Summit's Dance Party 71

Who Needs to be Replaced?

2009-01-02T23:40:00.005-06:00

"SEC! SEC!" How does that old saying go…? Oh ya, “It’s not that our offenses are bad, it’s just that our defenses are so good.” I guess Utah and the Mountain West conference can boast a similar sentiment. Unfortunately, Texas Tech shit the bed this afternoon so I can’t really talk up the Big XII either. But even that couldn’t dampen my enjoyment of watching the most arrogant conference in the country get humiliated by the Utes from Salt Lake - anyone else think they have a pretty convincing case for claiming the national championship? Moving on to the task at hand…

In looking back at the entire season, or simply just Wednesday’s game, it’s pretty apparent that we’re returning our three most important players. For obvious reasons, this is good, as you don’t have to look back very far to measure the impact of losing your biggest stars (i.e. Talib, McClinton, Collins, Fine, McAnderson, and even Henry and Rodriguez). But despite retaining these offensive stars, we will be losing several important cogs on both sides of the football. Today, I want to discuss the significance of those losses by ranking them and projecting how they'll be replaced.

1. James Holt (OLB). And it’s not even close. Coming into the year he was the least heralded of the three LBs, but he had far and away the best year of the three, culminating in being named first team All-Big XII and Defensive MVP of the Insight Bowl. He finished with a team-leading 105 tackles, 19.5 for a loss – 10 of them sacks. He also forced six fumbles and picked off a Joe Ganz pass. In the spread happy Big XII, we took our most athletic linebacker and asked him to do just about everything. And for the most part, he did. Stuckey might have been the heart on that side of the ball, but Holt was still the MVP. He will not be easy to replace.

Likely replacement: Arist Wright (RS Sr). Short and stout, Wright is pretty quick for a linebacker, sound in tackling, but not especially great at any one thing. However, we’ve never really seen him play for an extended period of time. As the likely incumbent, hopefully he’ll cherish the role and develop into a very dependable player, because we’ll need him.

2. Ryan Cantrell (C). The offensive line took a lot of blame for many of the struggles this year and most of the criticism was warranted. As the leader of that group, Cantrell was not absolved from any of this blame. However, he was still our best lineman and won’t be easy to replace. Aside from his ability in both single and combo blocking, something we take for granted from Cantrell is his snapping. For a team that takes 50+ snaps out of shotgun, it’s no small feat to never have one get away.

Likely replacement: Brad Thorson (Jr). The extent of my knowledge on Thorson is that he transferred from Wisconsin and the rumored reason is some sort of fighting at practice. As I’ve said before, I won’t condone that, but I don’t hate it from one of my linemen either. Those around the program have high hopes for Thorson, so for now I feel pretty good about this transition.

3. Mike Rivera (OLB). Despite taking quite a bit of criticism this year, Mike had himself a solid year and won’t be easy to replace. He ended the season with 93 tackles, 8 of them for a loss and 2 of them sacks. He also defended four passes and forced four fumbles. So while he looked a little lost in pass coverage at times and had his lack of lateral movement exposed more times than I like to remember, he was still a vital piece of our defense. There aren’t many better or scarier when they’re running downhill – you’re just not afforded that opportunity too often against the type of offenses we saw most of this season.

Likely replacement: Either Steven Johnson (So) or Dakota Lewis (RS Jr). Johnson has the better typical linebacker size, but as we saw with Holt this year, that’s not always important. Also noteworthy is the apparent trust the staff has shown in Lewis with his position placement on special teams. There’s also a slew of other young LBs on the roster that could slide in here, most notably, Drew Dudley – so we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

4. Adrian Mayes (LG). I probably got madder at Mayes than anyone, but I’ll never underestimate the effort and work ethic he displayed each and every time he took the field. He was probably the least athletically gifted starter we had on either side of the ball, but by being assignment sound and playing his ass off he became a pretty dependable lineman for a team that won 20 of the 26 games in which he played.

Likely replacement: Jeremiah Hatch (RS So). This is pure speculation on my part and entirely contingent on Spikes moving to LT, Leuken replacing him at RT and letting Hatch slide inside one spot. If this really happens, I think it’s a significant upgrade. He is much more physically gifted than Mayes and yet he’s also known for his tenacity. He just doesn’t quite have the height or arm length to be a left tackle – but he’d make a perfect left guard if the pieces fall into place. If none of this happens, I believe Trevor Marongelli would be next in line here.

5. Joe Mortensen (MLB). Like Rivera, Joe took some heat this year for not living up to the success he had a year ago. And while it was accurate, it wasn’t entirely justified. After having off-season knee surgery, there was no reason to expect a linebacker in Mortensen’s mold to have success in a spread happy conference. Yet despite his deficiencies, he ended the season with 90 tackles, 8 for a loss, 2 of them sacks. He also defended four passes, was credited with 9 QB hurries and recovered a couple fumbles. His struggles in pass coverage were clearly a hindrance, but very few close a hole better against the run.

Likely replacement: Justin Springer (Jr). Springer was actually starting to see significant minutes this season until he tore up his knee on special teams. A monster (6’4” 245) and weight room fanatic, Springer is very similar to Mortensen. The two things to watch with him will be how he recovers from his recent knee surgery and also how he fares in pass coverage, because he’ll surely be tested.

6. Chet Hartley (RG). As was the case with Mayes, Hartley battled some physical limitations and made an impact more on effort than ability. So while he struggled with some of the better DTs he faced, we always knew what we were getting out of him and he had a very positive impact on both the 2007 and 2008 Jayhawks.

Likely replacement: Sal Capra (RS Jr). As many of you likely noticed, Sal actually started splitting time with Chet throughout the last 2/3 of the season. A big part of this was letting Chet rest his knees for a series or two at a time, but part of it was ability. A converted LB, Capra has definitely put on the weight to be a legitimate guard and if he can continue to learn the position he seems like he could be a good fit there for the next couple years.

7. Russell Brorsen (DE). As was the case with Mike, Joe and nearly everyone on the defense, Brorsen took a lot of criticism this year for “regressing.” And just like them, it was simply a product of facing not only better teams, but also teams that liked to pass more than run – which is what he excels at defending. He ended the season with 30 tackles, 4 for a loss, 1 of which was a sack and two Josh Freeman interceptions. He didn’t have the ability to get to the QB very often, but no one was better in run defense, especially in stringing plays out to the sideline.

Likely replacement: Maxwell Onyegbule (RS Jr). That is, if we’re to believe the current depth chart. Onyegbule is seen as a pass rushing specialist, though he wasn’t really very productive in doing so. I think the real hope here is that Quinton Woods, the 4 star JuCo transfer from Bakersfield steps in and fills this role. Originally committed to Michigan out of HS, Woods (6’6” 245) went the JuCo route on account of academics and has since become a very productive player off the edge. Let’s hope it translates to the next level.

8. Dexton Fields (WR). After leading the team in receptions the last two seasons, big things were expected of Dex this year. Unfortunately, he got hurt in the first game and was never really himself. He finished with only 20 catches for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns – scoring once in each of the final regular season games (Nebraska, Texas & Missouri). Dex ends his career as a very valued Jayhawk and a big reason for the turnaround, but ultimately he was surpassed by Briscoe, Meier and even Wilson.

Likely replacement: Raimond Pendleton (RS Sr). I’m not sure how Pendleton would do in the slot on a consistent basis, but he seemed to be the guy that was next in line this year. Obviously a lot could happen here – Daymond could move back, Rod Harris could develop, and with a slew of other young guys on the roster you never know who is going to step up. But with Dezmon and Kerry returning, I feel pretty confident about our wide receivers as a whole.

We’ll be losing these eight players, all of which have been starters throughout the past two seasons. The loss of that kind of experience should not be underestimated. I consider us small favorites in the north simply because we’re the only team returning our quarterback – and he happens to be pretty decent – but we’ve got some holes to fill on both sides of the ball. I’m extremely confident in our ability to replace the interior of our line and Dexton on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, we need to brace for some falloff from the linebacking position and hope that by returning our entire secondary and improving our defensive line we can hide their deficiencies.

As always, feedback is welcomed.

Upon Further Review

2009-01-02T01:01:00.003-06:00

You always miss a few things in person, so of course a re-viewing was necessary. In doing so, I had some thoughts. Here they are…

With this type of hardware as motivation, losing was simply not an option.

On the opening play of the game, Dezmon Briscoe did a wonderful job of breaking off his route to help Todd out.

Eric Decker is a really good receiver, but that first play from scrimmage was nothing more than a product of this being Kendrick Harper’s first game action in months. And of course his lack of speed in general. Here’s to hoping Justin Thornton is done breaking team rules and will be available for all fourteen games next season.

In re-watching their first two drives, I’m reminded of how shocked/scared I was to see Minnesota running all over us. I went into this game thinking we wouldn’t have a problem stopping this and that their passing game simply wasn’t explosive or consistent enough to keep up; and thus a win would result. When that wasn’t happening, nerves kicked in and I think Clint Bowen deserves a lot of credit for adjusting and basically shutting them down the rest of the game - as they would go scoreless until the fourth quarter.

On that last note, I’d also like to give credit to Joe & Mike for ending their careers on a very high note with 13 & 14 tackles, respectively. Many have criticized them throughout the year for not playing as well as they did a year ago, but as we’ve said many times before – their production was simply a result of the type of offenses we faced. If you need to stop the run, there aren’t too many better in the league. The pass is another story, and unfortunately we played several of the most prolific passing teams in the country this season. It’s as simple as that, folks.

After leading the team in receptions two straight years I never thought I’d say this, but we really aren’t going to miss Dexton Fields. I’m not sure if it was the time he missed from injury or what, but he just hasn’t been the same guy. There’s also the little fact that we had two other guys with 90+ catches and 1000+ yards.

Quick note: Todd is a badass. He took one hell of a shot from Hightower at about the 12 minute mark of the second quarter and it didn’t seem to phase him one bit. A night after Zac Robinson took the same kind of hit and pretty much assumed the fetal position the rest of the night, Todd simply shook it off and continued carving up the Minnesota defense.

Nothing we didn’t know already, but Dezmon Briscoe simply abused the Minnesota secondary. Why any defensive coordinator would ever try and cover him one-on-one is beyond me. Even in the Big XII, I still think he was snubbed in not getting first team recognition this year. He finished his season with 92 catches (4th behind Maclin, Crabtree & Meier), 1407 yards (2nd to Bryant), and 15 TDs (2nd behind Bryant & Crabtree). How naïve and/or spoiled are we being to think that there is room for improvement next year?

QB stats with 55 seconds remaining in the first half…

Weber: 3/6 for 50 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTS
Reesing: 19/22 for 221 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs

Daymond Patterson has become a really good corner. When we first made the move for the Tech game I hated it from every angle. Bad timing. Reeked of desperation. And aside from his speed, I just wasn’t sure he had the size to match-up with so many big receivers. Beyond all that, I still liked his potential as a receiver, so it just seemed like an attempt at a quick-fix. Now, I just think it was bad timing. At first he just had the speed and hips to stay with guys; now he looks like an actual corner – handing off to the safety in zone, timing his breaks, and playing taller than he is by going after the ball at its highest point. I just can’t say enough about the strides he’s made in such a short time.

It wasn’t quite as highlight worthy as some others, but there may not have been a prettier play than Meier’s 31 yard sideline catch in the 3rd quarter. Beautiful pass. Even better catch. And a simply gorgeous block by Cantrell in which he de-cleated VanDeSteeg, giving Todd the space to step into his throw. You can’t draw it up any better than that.

Quick aside: I really like Adam Weber as a Big 10 quarterback. Listed at 6’3” 220 he looks every bit of it in person and I was really surprised with both his speed and toughness in the running game. And while he doesn’t have Big XII type accuracy, he also doesn’t have a Big XII offense. Only a sophomore, he’s sure to get better and will be a great guy to have under center the next two years. And if they’re able to develop proper balance, they’ll take the next step.

Quick bragging on my part: if you’re a regular reader you’ll remember me predicting a Kerry Meier touchdown pass in this game and apparently Ed Warinner got the message. Great play call; even better execution.

What in the hell happened to our kick coverage. Branstetter has made way more tackles than he should have this year and that wedge we let them set midway through the third quarter was simply awful and was the single biggest factor in changing field position for the next 10 or so minutes of the game.

Even in 21 point games, I love goal-line stands! It’s also worth mentioning that one both second and third down, Kendrick Harper was the cleanup tackler, denying any type of second effort that is so often when the ball sneaks over the line. Speaking of Harper, he really did a much better job once he got his wits about him. He’s not nearly the corner we all hoped he’d be, but after the first couple drives I hardly noticed him. I thought the Thornton loss killed us and in the end, it really only cost us an early score.

Third & 5 from our six yard line: if Todd gets one more yard under that pass, Dezmon may have had an additional 94 yards and 1 touchdown catch on that stat-line. As it stands, the pass was slightly underthrown and Traye Simmons celebrated being able to defend a pass despite being beaten on the route.

Rojas really has become a great weapon. It took him a couple games to get comfortable, but since then he’s really become a solid punter. He was sensational against Missouri and damn good again last night. Perhaps that was a little luck to get that out at the 1, but you still create your own luck to an extent and he put it where it needed to be.

It’s really unbelievable how much James Holt changed our defense in being able to rush off the edge the last half of the season. If we can figure out a way to get consistent pressure from our front four next year, our new linebackers and returning secondary will really reap the benefits.

As always seems to be the case, I feel like I've really overlooked Kerry and Jake. This wasn't one of Jake's best games, but 16 for 64 is a good solid game. And more than that, he punched in a score, held onto the ball and picked up blitzes. Nothing flashy, but nothing to complain about. And what can you say about Kerry except that he simply does it all. 10 catches for 113 yards and a score. 32 yard TD pass. And he's basically a ball control running game whenever we feel like we want to pick up 4+ yards. Phenomenal. And he's as big a reason as anyone why we'll be looking to exceed 30 wins over a 3 year span.

I mentioned in a preview that I expected a modestly dominating win. Not one in the sense of a blowout, but one in which we won every quarter and eventually coasted comfortably through the fourth quarter. I’ll give the Gophers the first quarter, because I think playing us to a tie favored them, but from then on I think that analysis was spot on. We dominated every phase of the second quarter, got a quick score in the third and pretty much cruised through the rest of the game holding a three touchdown lead for most of the second half. As we all knew before and was confirmed last night, Kansas was just a much better team than Minnesota this year. If we played that game 10 times, the Hawks would win no less than nine of them.

What I'm Thankful For....Insight Bowl Champions Edition

2008-12-31T22:57:00.008-06:00

20-6 record the past 2 years
Back to back bowl appearances for the first time in school history
Mangino's 4 bowl appearances account for 1/3rd of KU's total bowl games(also half the wins)
52-21 over Kansas State
40-37 over Missouri
Todd Ressing's 14 consecutive completions, a KU record
Holt, Mortensen and Rivera cementing the legacy of the most successful KU linebacking core in it's history
Reesing, Meier and Briscoe being the perfect three-headed monster that anticipate and react to each other amazing well. Oh yeah, and that they are all underclassmen
Darrell Stuckey single-handedly accounting for 3 turnovers of Chase Daniel
Another stepping stone bowl victory for the formerly oft maligned Kansas Football program. As Mangino says, "Our program is a work in progress, and every day it seems to get better and better"
3 straight bowl victories
All of the seniors who have helped change the football culture at KU, we will always admire you and forever be indebted
To the Mangenius, your record at KU may only stand at 45-41, but anyone with a clue knows what you inherited and realizes how far we have come
Bill Snyder: Part Deux *this time without Manhatten airfield access but with extra juco limitations!
Bidding adieu to the Chase-Chase era at Mizzou and ushering in the Blaine-Blaine era...haha, you can't write that any gayer
Briscoe: 92 receptions for 1,407 yards and 15 TD's
Meier: 97 receptions for 1,045 yards and 8 TD's
Reesing: 3,888 passing yards and 32 TD's

Happy New Year Jayhawks, please add your own in the comments

For Further Review

2008-12-31T14:12:00.006-06:00

Sandy: I want you to kill every gopher on the golf course!
Carl Spackler: Correct me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers, they're gonna lock me up and throw away the key...
Sandy: Not golfers, you great fool! Gophers! The *little* *brown*, *furry* *rodents* -!
Carl Spackler: We can do that; we don't even have to have a reason. All right, let's do the same thing, but with gophers.

Anyone who wants some game previews see here, here, here, here, here and here.

As much has been made of the Jayhawks 113th ranked pass defense, I would just like it to be known that the teams played might skew that number a healthy amount. KU has faced the number 1, 3, 4, 10, 14, 19, 30, 40, and 55 best passing attacks in the nation. Minnesota ranks 58th in the nation, ahead of only Colorado(81st), Lousiana Tech(102nd) and Sam Houston State(though Rhett Bomar threw for 3355 yds. in FCS play) of the teams KU has played.

I am not saying the Jayhawks will shut down the Minnesota aerial attack, but it is something to note that as the opponents average passing yards per game drop, the Jayhawks have generally done much better. I know all of this is pretty obvious, but it emphasizes that Minnesota is not an especially potent offense...and Kansas is. Supplement KU's schedule with that of Minnesota's and KU is atleast an average pass defense, even without the help of do-it-all CB Thornton.

On paper, given relative strengths and weaknesses of conferences, this is not a great matchup for Minnesota. They need to get turnovers, which they have not done against decent competition(such as Kansas) and they need to be able to run and pass on the same pace as Kansas(which again, they have not done against decent competition).

Bowl games obviously don't always go as they are written in the stat sheet(read: Mizzou vs. Northwestern), but I for one believe these Hawks will come out and put their money where the stats are.

Rock Chalk and happy gameday!

***additional mullet glory from Tempe, KU style.

Happy Mullet Wednesday!

2008-12-31T12:13:00.002-06:00

I'm sure you thought I'd forget about our lovely Wednesday tradition, due to all the excitement in Tempe and Big XII bed-shitting going on lately, but thanks to free wireless from the Hyatt you don't have to wait any longer for your weekly mullet. And so I present to you this golden boy who seems to be enjoying similar weather as I am. And yes, I'm aware that it may just be long hair as opposed to our preferred cut - but it was just too glorious a fit to pass up. Enjoy and Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

One Last Effort

2008-12-29T13:02:00.004-06:00

This will be my last chance to speak with you as tomorrow I head for sunny Tempe in hopes of witnessing a third straight bowl win. And while I'm very disappointed in my output for this game (all linked below), I must confess that it's entirely out of ignorance. I just don't know a lot about them. And quite frankly, there isn't much available out there to help me. So ultimately, it seems that everything comes back to my assumption that Kansas is a couple rungs above the Gophers in every facet of the game, save a d-line pass rush.

Their two wins over bowl teams came during the non-conference, at home against Northern Illinois (31-27) and Florida Atlantic (37-3); the latter in much more convincing fashion. Both of these are fine wins, as was their road victory at Bowling Green (42-17). I can't say the same for a 12 point win over Montana State, but wins are wins and it lead to a 4-0 start.

They kicked off their Big 11 season in the Horseshoe and though the score doesn't look bad (34-21), it seems as if they were manhandled before Aosu let up and allowed two late meaningless TDs bringing it from 34-6 to the ultimately respectable final above.

They then ran off three straight wins (their last of the season) with the latter two coming on the road and ultimately leading to a brief stint in the polls. The first came over Indiana (3-9) by a score of 16-7. I don't think there's any way for me to be less impressed by a conference win. I'll tip my cap for the next two, though. Neither Illinois (5-7) nor Purdue (4-8) were anything formidable, but both had some potential – and conference road wins should never be shrugged off. They won the first (27-20) despite being outgained by 238 yards (550 to 312) simply because Juice Williams couldn't hold onto the ball (3 TOs), one of which was a fumble returned for the decisive score. Turnovers were again the difference as they won in West Lafayette by a score of 17-6. This was the game in which Curtis Painter hurt his shoulder which led to a mid-season semi-benching. I won't take away from the win, but as you've surely surmised Minnesota's real wins have come solely because of an opportunistic defense.

As mentioned, they would not win again. They closed the season with losses to Northwestern (24-17), Michigan (29-6), Wisconsin (35-32) and by being utterly humiliated at the hands of Iowa (55-0). Not coincidentally, they didn't win the turnover battle in any of them. However, they were pretty much without Eric Decker (their Kerry Meier) in all but the Northwestern loss and that subtraction shouldn't be underestimated. While the absence of a single player shouldn't lead to the kind of falloff they saw (especially against Michigan) it also can't be taken too lightly. I label him their Kerry Meier for his "safety blanket" like receptions and the many injuries he's fought through (not to mention his apparent do-everything type athletic acumen), but he's also their Dezmon Briscoe in that he's the only one to go over 100 yards in a game (though Kuznia had 98 once). So not only were they losing their possession receiver, but they were losing their big play guy as well. In a highly skewed passing offense, that type of loss is catastrophic.

From what I understand he'll be healthy and ready to go on Wednesday, which means we should expect a competent Gopher offense. I'm also to understand that Minnesota has installed an entirely new power running game to complement their passing attack. In doing so, they've moved all their linemen down from 2-point into 3-point stances and have had to make changes accordingly with personnel. Some may disagree with what Brewster and new line coach/running coordinator, Tim Davis, have done. I'm not one of them. For one thing, even the best passing offenses need a complimentary running game. And Minnesota didn't have one, despite not having a sterling passing attack either. Secondly, they likely understand that they won't be able to stop Kansas. Obviously they'll be scheming to do so and planning on generating enough pressure to force some turnovers, but we've fought through both of those things most games and still usually scored 30+ points. So unless they plan on tearing through our defense like Tech did, they want to elicit some type of ball control to keep us off the field and rest their defense accordingly. And lastly, they're rebuilding. These fifteen extra practices are a coach's dream for a young team and Brewster clearly realized that it would benefit his team not only in the short term, but also in preparing for spring practices to start working on a running game. As we mentioned above, every important victory came because of an opportunistic defense rather than their semi-touted offense. If you improve the latter and maintain the former, you take the next step.

So what do I see happening?

Honestly, I'd expect something like the Fort Worth Bowl in 2005. With Swanson at quarterback and that defense in place, we were much better than Fort Worth Bowl quality. Despite similar records, those just weren't similar teams. And we proved it emphatically. The same is true this year. Our defensive stats are horrific, but they've faced several of the best offenses in the nation. Sure, we left wins on the field in South Florida and Lincoln, but our other three losses came to top-5 caliber teams. If you think our 7-5 is the same as Minnesota's, then you probably aren't reading this blog. And while that guarantees nothing, it sure lets you think that this is Kansas' to lose.

In the bowl picks, I had the Hawks winning 38-20. Thus far, I haven't really changed my mind. Kansas has to do three things: 1) Come to play – no matter what players say, the opponent makes a difference in how you approach the game and they need to take it much more seriously than I am. 2) Protect Todd – Minnesota's strength is their d-line and our offensive line has had its problems; keeping Todd upright sure helps put the points on the board. 3) Take care of the ball – this likely goes hand-in-hand with # 2, but it's worth mentioning anyway. It's often the difference for us and it always is for them. All else equal, we're a much better team than Minnesota, but turnovers have a way of evening the playing field.

In the end I don't see complete domination, but rather a consistent display of supremacy. Sort of like the Texas game, only this time we're on the right end. And I don't mean that it will be a 35-7 type win. Instead, I mean that we'll win every quarter. They're going to make some plays. And they're going to stop us occasionally. But ultimately, the gap is just too large. I see us steadily increasing our lead throughout until we're eventually up by a comfortable enough margin to coast to victory over the last ten minutes or so.

Rock Chalk!

- First Glance at the Gophers
- Bowl Picks
- Gophers Changing Things Up
- Five Reasons Kansas Could Lose
- Five Reasons Kansas Could Win

Christmas Ideas

2008-12-27T11:49:00.000-06:00

If by chance you haven’t yet sent a Christmas present my way (a category you all fall into), I have some belated ideas for you – sorted categorically. All are plenty attainable and I would prefer them sooner than later, but as long as they arrive we’ll call it good.

First and foremost, we have Kansas football. These need to be delivered promptly.

- 35+ points
- 400+ yards
- 4 sacks of Adam Weber
- 2 Darrell Stuckey interceptions
- 1 Daymond Patterson TD
- 1 Insight Bowl victory
- And as many pass rushing lineman as you can find

Miscellaneous.

- Sat-Go. It may have the worst name in the history of product marketing, but that deters me not.
- A five figure DJIA
- Megan Fox. No explanation necessary.
- A four figure S&P 500
- And another Christopher Nolan Batman

And finally, Kansas basketball. You may need some assistance with a few of these.

- 15 shots a game for Cole.
- 10+ assists per game from Sherron and Tyshawn
- 1 healthy Mario Little
- 2 hustling Morris twins
- 1 offensively competent Travis Releford
- 1 more three point shooter
- 2 less bad shots from Sherron
- < 37% FG percentage defense
- +10 rebounding margin
- 1 entry pass instructional video
- And a 52nd conference championship

That should just about cover me. But that doesn’t preclude anyone from improvising and adding to this perfectly reasonable list. Thanks in advance.

Five Reasons Kansas Could Win

2008-12-26T21:44:00.003-06:00

Hard as it is to believe, the much-awaited Insight Bowl is but four days away. Between a few important happenings with Bill’s boys and the holiday season, I feel as if we’ve largely ignored the last football game of 2008. But no more. And today I want to give you five reasons our Jayhawks could win this thing, making it three straight bowl wins over a four year span.

However, being largely unfamiliar with the Gophers other than what I've either read or researched, I feel like most of my analysis simply revolves around my presumption that Kansas is no worse than a top 30 team while Minnesota is no better than about top 50. Quite simply, neither defense is exceptional but one team has a very good offense while the other's is relatively average. So in lieu of five stat-filled reasons why Kansas will win, I'll just be providing YouTube links that are not only enjoyable, but also serve as plenty useful analysis as to why the Jayhawks have the tools to win the Insight Bowl.

1. Dezmon Briscoe. For the year, Dezmon has 78 catches for 1206 yards and 12 touchdowns. And if the Missouri game was any indication, he also has plenty of ability to add another dimension to the kickoff return game.

Will it help us? Tim Brewster will likely be game-planning to stop Dezmon, but he'll be having an affect one way or another. This video (Louisiana Tech) provides a little insight as to what he can do after the catch. And as Texas can attest, he's just as dangerous when the ball is in the air.

2. Darrell Stuckey. Possibly the biggest surprise on the first team Big XII defense, Stuckey has proven to be an elite safety when he's healthy. For the year, he led the team with 5 interceptions and finished second with 94 tackles.

Will it help us? Despite leading the team with five oskies, his true strength lies in run support. He's been the heart and soul of this defense and nothing shows that more than these two videos. The first of which came against Louisiana Tech in which he ran down Patrick Livas. And secondly, you may remember his performance against Missouri - we have for you today the best tomahawk chop seen at Arrowhead this year and possibly ever.

3. Kerry Meier. Despite battling health issues from the Colorado game on, our former starting QB has a team leading 87 catches for 932 yards and 7 touchdowns. And while we've only seen him throw 2 passes on the year (both completed for 42 yards), I think it's highly likely we could see one Wednesday.

Will it help us? While Brewster will be keying Dezmon the whole game, you can bet they'll find Kerry every time we face a third down. So obviously the attention he garners will help in some capacity, but even more than that, I expect Kerry to have a ton of success against the largely unathletic back seven of Minnesota. As we saw in Norman, if Todd can get it close, Kerry will haul it in for the completion.

4. James Holt. He may have been the least heralded of our three senior LBs, but he took center stage this season. In leading the team with 97 tackles, 7 sacks and 6 forced fumbles Holt was our do-everything constant on that side of the ball.

Will it help us? His sure tackling is obviously valued, but he truly changed our defense over the second half of the year as he turned to a pass rusher off the edge. Witness: Sacking Josh Freeman. And sacking Chase Daniel. Let's hope we can add Adam Weber to this list.

5. Todd Reesing. From recruiting, to facilities, to on field performance we have every indication to believe Kansas football is heading in the right direction. But given his production over the past two seasons, it's still a fair question to ask where this program will be without its gunslinger. In this, his junior season, he's completed 66% of his passes for 3575 yards, 28 TDs and 12 INTs.

Will it helps us? As good as the numbers above are, they don't even begin to tell the story. Witness:
A) The bomb (Sam Houston), which still might be the single best play I saw all season.
B) The bounce-off (@ Nebraska), which is the perfect depiction of everything Todd is as both a quarterback and a competitor.
C) The Pass (Missouri), which you can never see enough.

Since we're having fun with great 2008 YouTube moments, you might also check out Mario's Shot filmed at Allen Fieldhouse. And I. Jizz. In. My. Pants.

A L on the Court but a W Off

2008-12-24T14:54:00.004-06:00

Well they may have put a hurting on us in the last 15 minutes of the game but at least we got their 7 footer coming our way.

Jeff Withey will be coming to KU and be able to play Dec of 2009 but can start practicing immediately. Looks like he will need to hit the weights a bit but has a nice mid-range jumper. Now that he has decided to go to KU that will make it 3 school committed to in less than a year, hope he sticks around this time.

Happy Festivus!

2008-12-24T10:35:00.004-06:00

I'm sick for having not wished you all a Happy Festivus yesterday. So today I extend my most sincere apologies and ask for your forgiveness by offering you this mullet enthusiast who is filled with enough fervor to great you a very HAPPY MULLET WEDNESDAY! And in honor of both him and Festivus, please feel free to air your grievances here or in the post below in regards to last night's game. Try as we might to hold onto 2008 (probably the greatest and most significant year in history), we're one short week from moving on. And that is grievance #1 in my book.

An Acceptable Loss

2008-12-23T23:47:00.002-06:00

This was a tough loss. But it was also an acceptable one. After controlling most of the first half and jumping out to a 9 point lead (44-35) early in the second, we completely collapsed and Arizona took over every phase for the remainder. And yet I'd say the positives outweighed the negatives, especially going forward. This wasn't the best time for Cole's worst game. And it wasn't a good time for Tyrel to look pretty awful. But all in all, the freshman came to play. Sherron mostly looked in control. And Brady continues to impress. Much more to come on this later, but I'm handling it better than anticipated and I think the potential is really starting to show through. Losses are always tough to watch, especially when there's a second half foul disparity like we saw tonight. But more frustrating is the passes out of bounds, the moving screens, the complete lack of boxing out - without checking a box score, I'd have to guess Arizona had close to 20 offensive boards - and the inability to bear down and get a stop when it's needed. But the talent is there (though I've lowered this team's ceiling). And the ball movement is incredible. So there's plenty of potential for this year. We'll have much more later, but I'd be curious as to your thoughts.

If nothing else, at least we didn't get all hyped up the last few days about finally be ranked only to be run out of the gym for the ninth straight year by a mediocre Illinois team...

Battle of the Unknowns

2008-12-23T11:49:00.004-06:00

If anyone tries to tell you they know what's going to happen tonight in Tucson, do us all favor and punch them in the brain. Nobody likes a liar. Least of all an arrogant one. And no one knows what to expect this evening. After all, how could they given what we've seen from each of these teams?

First off, our Jayhawks: winners against Washington and Temple, who themselves have quality wins over Oklahoma State and Tennessee, respectively. And though ultimately losers, they also controlled a good Syracuse team for 38+ minutes. As we all know, the loss should not be discounted, but it was something to build on for a young team. And then came the inexplicable loss to UMass in which the young Jayhawks played (hopefully) as poorly as they possibly can. So quite obviously, while we've seen more good than bad thus far we really don't know what to expect - especially given this is the first real road game for everyone not named Sherron Collins. Could they come out and play their best game of the year? Sure. But it seems far more likely that the opposite could happen. We'll know in twelve hours.

As many mixed signals as the Jayhawks have given us this year, Arizona is even more bewildering. They have a match-up nightmare and possible lottery pick in Budinger to go along with fellow first-rounder Jordan Hill and a very talented PG in Nic Wise. Yet they've played well approximately one time this year. By now you all know that they beat fourth ranked Gonzaga in Tucson nine moons ago. An impressive win to say the least as Gonzaga has proven to be a very legitimate top ten team. But aside from that game, there's little to suggest that the Wildcats are anything more than a mid-tier team with some top tier talent.

At 7-3, Arizona has a win over Gonzaga and pretty much no one else. Their second best win to date is probably over Santa Clara – and that one came by the wide margin of 3 points after trailing the entire second half. And they've been no better in the loss column with one inexplicably coming at home to UAB. Robert Vaden's a solid player, but a loss like this is inexcusable. After winning a few throwaways they went to College Station, led A&M the whole way before collapsing late and losing to the Aggies. I'm not sure what to make of this loss as A&M (10-1) does have two other quality wins (Alabama & LSU), but there's also a loss to Tulsa mixed in there and little else to speak of. And lastly, after their confidence building win over Gonzaga, they went to Vegas and were basically dominated by UNLV as the Rebels took a 13-10 lead halfway through the 1st half and never let it go. From the tournament we know UNLV to be a solid team and Wink Adams a tough guy to contain, but dominant they are not. And yet they controlled this game throughout.

A long story short, they're pretty much the same team they were a year ago – loaded with talent and potential, but horribly unorganized without any discernible direction and completely incapable of developing consistency of any kind. The last two losses are plenty excusable, but more telling to me is that they seemingly haven't played well against anyone other than Gonzaga the entire year. But as we all know, that KANSAS across our chests tonight will likely bring out a similar focus and intensity in them, as tends to happen. And to think, all of this turmoil could have been avoided had Miles Simon and the former Mrs. Lute Olson just been a little more discrete with their infidelities.

As I said above, I don't have a clue what's going to happen tonight. Just like everybody else. But I'm leaning towards a Jayhawk loss and hoping I'm wrong. And since I don't like predicting those and our colleague GingerBalls is on a roll lately, we'll defer to him for a prediction down below. But for now, you'll have to live with three quick keys to a Kansas victory.

1. Patience. This will come from Sherron, but must be exercised by everyone. We have a tendency to get hurried up and turn the ball over or force bad shots (which are de facto turnovers) when we get on our heels. Arizona's bound to make a run or two tonight and how we respond will determine if we're in this one for 40 minutes.
2. Crash the glass. For some reason, when I watch this team it feels like they let a lot of rebounds get away, but we always end up with more the opponent with that margin currently at 10/game. Aside from Jordan Hill (and Budinger, to an extent), Arizona is not a great rebounding team so we have a chance to steal some possessions/points and limit their second chances by focusing here. In what should be a close game, easy points could be the difference.
3. Defend (the right way). Budinger is a match-up nightmare for anyone – most of all, us, as we'll likely have 6'3" Brady Morningstar on him the majority of the time. So he's going to get his points. What we need to really concentrate on is taking Wise out of his game and playing solid defense on Hill without getting in foul trouble. I think Bill will start with Tyshawn on Wise and Morris on Hill, but who knows if that will last. If it does, then I think we're in this game for the long haul with a chance to get one back after the UMass debacle.

Rock Chalk!

***Gingerballs Prediction***
Hawks 78 - Ghost of Lute Olson Past 74

Five Reasons Kansas Could Lose

2008-12-22T16:10:00.002-06:00

Despite the confidence of many Kansas fans (myself included), Minnesota remains a capable opponent and one that emerged victorious more often than not in 2008. With that said, it's also true that none of these seven wins came against a legitimate opponent, despite what Missouri fans like to believe about Illinois. And worse than their win quality was perhaps their close to this season that included losses to Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, & utter humiliation at the hands of an average Iowa team. Put simply, their 7-5 is not exactly equal to the one we're sporting. But that's also the kind of thinking that could allow them to linger around like a stale fart just long enough to put the type of pressure on late that leads to an embarrassing upset.

1. Eric Decker. The all-conference selection set a school record with 76 catches that went for 925 yards. He's a two sport athlete (baseball) with a ton of athletic ability and the tools to be a game breaker with the ball in the air or in his hands. Kansas' struggles against the pass are well-chronicled and Decker could make them pay if they're not ready for him.

Will it hurt us? Probably – at least to an extent. A while back we touched on his production and what it means to the offense, so we know they'll try to get him the ball. However, he's also coming off arthroscopic knee surgery as well as a few other injuries, so his effectiveness may be limited. Perhaps even more important is his lack of help. Whereas Kansas has 2 guys with his type of numbers, Minnesota doesn't have another one in his same stratosphere. Ideally, this will mean that we're able to key on him and make other guys prove to us that they can handle his workload. But the fact remains that as long as he's on the field, even if he isn't making catches he's having an effect because of the attention we'll be giving him.

2. Defensive line. As we've all seen countless times over the past couple years, the best way to disrupt our offense or any other spread is to rush the passer. Particularly this year as we break in RS freshman tackles, speed rushers off the edge have proven difficult to contain. It just so happens that the Gopher d-line is pretty formidable. Specifically, they rank 25th in the nation in accumulating 2.5 sacks/game. Which just so happens to be the exact same amount as Texas Tech and Nebraska – each of which gave us a lot of trouble

Will it hurt us? You'd have to think so. Keeping with the comparison of Nebraska and Tech, it's reasonable to assume we'll have some trouble with them. Priority #1 will be containing William VanDeSteeg, their 6'4 256 senior DE. A pass rushing specialist VanDeSteeg has a very impressive 18 tackles for loss. 9.5 of those tackles came on sacks totaling 69 yards lost. In all he has 49 tackles and he's mixed in a few batted balls, QB hurries and a blocked kick so we're going to have our hands full. Mix in Garrett Brown and his 3 sacks and 7 TFLs from the DT position and you've got yourself a solid defensive line capable of making life tough on Todd.

3. Turnovers. As should come as no surprise, Minnesota has had a great year in regards to TO margin. They're currently tied for 12th nationally with a 1.0 margin having taken 30 away (16 F, 14 Int) while only giving up 18 of their own (10 F, 8 Int). Like any over-achieving team, ball security and takeaways are as important as anything else and Minnesota is no different.

Will it hurt us? It sure could. We haven't been terrible this year, but we haven't been great either having caused 24 (9 F, 15 Int) and lost 21 (9 F, 12 Int) for a .25 margin (t-46th). The most concerning number there is the 21. Causing 24 is pretty solid (2/game), but losing 21 of our own means we haven't valued the ball nearly enough this year. And against a ball-hawking team like Minnesota that likes to pressure the QB, this is cause for concern and could easily be the deciding factor.

4. Pass defense. Or lack thereof. While I think our pass defense numbers are inflated due to competition and we've certainly looked better the last two games, it's still a concern. Minnesota certainly isn't OU. Hell, they're probably not even K-State (offensively). But they're not terrible either. Through the air they've averaged 6.8 yards/attempt. Coincidentally, that's exactly what we've given up - with that number rising to 11/completion.

Will it hurt us? It sure will. Weber has completed 63% of his passes and while Decker is his favorite target, he has six other with double figure catches, led by Simmons with 32 and Kuznia for 31. He'll be spreading the ball around and if we're not sound with our assignments and getting some pressure he's plenty capable of moving the chains and putting up points. Now, with that said, I think we're also plenty capable of shutting them down. They've only averaged about 16 first downs per game (and allowed 19) against a rather questionable schedule. For comparison, we've averaged 23 (and allowed 21) against one of the toughest slates in the country. We also average a full yard more per play. Unless you really think Big XII defenses are awful (I don't) that is an enormous difference that shouldn't be ignored.

5. The Element of Surprise. Obviously the staff and players will have seen a great deal more of the Gophers than myself. But they're still an unknown in more ways than one. First off, they seem to be changing their offense which could make preparation tough. And secondly, they're playing with house money. They opened as double-digit underdogs and had all of one win last year – just getting here is a big step in the right direction, so the pressure rests squarely on the Jayhawks.

Will it hurt us? Not immensely. I do think they'll try some trick plays of some sort and make a concerted effort to run more than they have as a way of ball control. But while the pressure may be on us, it's still just the Insight Bowl. Most of these guys played in the Orange Bowl a year ago and handled the demands admirably, so I wouldn't expect them to flounder in Tempe. The bigger concern here would be over-confidence, but given that we're still not well-respected nationally, I'd be much more apt to believe that they'll come out wanting to make a statement.

Note for those making the trip, I found this little nugget over at CFN. I'm not sure whether or not 150,000 people in one place is a good thing or not, but use this information as you will.

The Insight Fiesta Bowl Block Party is a New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Tempe that annually attracts 150,000 people and more than 40 bands on several stages. The fans from the four teams competing in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Insight Bowl are able to enjoy the event, and the Insight Bowl has been held in the afternoon on December 31 just down the street in Sun Devil Stadium. The event has a national headliner each year, including the Goo Goo Dolls, Billy Idol, Barenaked Ladies, LeAnn Rimes, Hootie & The Blowfish and Live, to name a few. Legendary band Styx will perform at this year's event. The Block Party has been named one of the top ten places in the nation to ring in the New Year by USA Today, and "The Place to Party" by The Sporting News.

The Aldrich Effect

2008-12-22T10:46:00.002-06:00

Sherron Collins is the leader of this Kansas team. He is the best individual player and this team will only go as far as he takes them. Quite simply, we need to him to score and to get everyone else involved. Obviously this is no easy task. It's also not a secret. Every coach and player on every team we play knows that as Sherron goes, so goes Kansas. What many are finding out though is that Cole may be just as big of a key.

We all knew of Sherron's importance heading into the year. And to an extent, we knew that we'd be counting on Cole for a dramatic increase in production. But as the year has gone along, it's become apparent that he is as much a key as Sherron. On both ends, this team is night and day depending on whether or not he is on the court. He absolutely controls the game defensively, despite being vulnerable to quicker, driving big men. And offensively, he is at the fulcrum of everything we do.

Mostly due to our balance and talent at every position on the floor, we haven't seen a player be able to control so much without even touching the ball since Wayne Simien. Offensively, Cole has shown the ability to hit shots from the top of the key, from the elbow, from the baseline and off the block. While he's shown all that, he's also proven that he's by no means just a spot shooter and when he gets proper position, he has some great post moves. And it's blatantly obvious that he's the only big man on this team that will finish strong in traffic. Quite simply, the only way to guard him is to clog space and deny the ball. Aside from that, teams just have to hope he misses because he can get off any shot he wants.

Because of this, he alters everything we do offensively. For one thing, Bill likes to run a high-low offense and to do so; you have to have someone capable of catching and finishing on the inside. Cole provides that better than anyone on the roster. On account of this, opposing defenses must focus on denying him the ball, which frees up space for the other four guys on the floor; a one-on-one for the other big and plenty of room for open looks on the outside. We're capable of running an offense without him, but the positive effect he has on our spacing and ball movement has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Though more expected, his presence defensively completely changes the team as well. He's quicker than he looks and with better feet than I'd expect, but he clearly struggles against post players that like to drive rather than post up. This shortcoming aside, he simply dominates the paint. He's averaging nearly 3 blocks a game and has had less then 2 only twice. At times, this skill leads to him collecting a foul or two he otherwise shouldn't, but it also establishes the paint as his area and either deters driving guards or at the very least alters the shot they want to put up around him. This team is still nowhere near what it needs to be on this end of the court, but again, the difference when Cole is on the floor is blatantly apparent.

Right now, Cole Aldrich is our difference maker. Not because he's better than Sherron or even more important. Because he's neither. Yet. Fair or unfair, the biggest reason he makes such a difference is his presence. And while you can't coach or replicate size, they in effect have because he plays even bigger than he is. I completely stand behind what I said above about Sherron and probably the most important stat of the game Saturday was him and Taylor combining for 14 assists to 3 turnovers, but for this team to succeed against quality competition we need 30 good minutes out of Cole (right now he's at 27 and we're getting 14/11/3 out of him). Twenty-six minutes might have been good enough against Temple at home, but it won't beat Jordan Hill and Arizona in Tucson. Sherron has to do certain things in order for this team to play well. Cole simply has to be on the court and a lot of things will take care of themselves. That's a huge asset to have and one that we shouldn't take lightly.

Iowa State hires Rhodes

2008-12-20T12:24:00.004-06:00

Just a quick bit of info before we see how the Hawks fare against Temple today(ESPN2 @ 1:30). It seems as Iowa State has moved on rather quickly from the Chizik fiasco and from reports, most think this is a pretty good hire.(what, no black guy? Get Jackie Chiles on the phone now!) Honestly I hope this works out well for them, because I believe a stronger North division makes everyone in the Big 12 look better, not to mention the S.O.S. bump. Though this year, most the bowl bound teams have definitely benefited from the national perception of a strong Big 12(especially South squads), judging by the bowl point spreads.

On to this blogs game of interest. Temple should be well rested after their thrashing of horrendously overrated, but still competent, Tennessee. With a week off, 4 starters returning from last years NCAA tourney team, and a revered coach in Fran Dunphy no one is marking this down as an easy win. Though Temple's record stands at 5-3 there is no doubt this squad has talent to beat quality teams(even with a home loss to Miami(Ohio).) This is a guard dominated lineup that features Lloyd (Dionte) Christmas and Ryan Brooks who average a combined 34.5 ppg. Outside of seven-footer Edward James (Sergio) Olmos, Temple has no one taller than 6'9". Speaking of Olmos, how do you play 30 minutes a game as a 7' center and average 4.5 rpg, that is criminal.

The key here is that outside of the Liacouras Center and in the unfriendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse it will be interesting to see how well Temple shows up. If our guards can slow down Temple's perimeter dominated offense, this should be a no doubter. After last games letdown and overall sloppy play, I think we see a focused Kansas team ready to get the home crowd re-energized. Hopefully we get to take another step forward in trying to figure out what makes this team tick.

Prediction: Owls 59-Hawks 72

In case you haven't heard, reknowed d-bag Eric Devendorf will miss the rest of the season due to his off-court douchbaggery.

Gophers Changing Things Up

2008-12-19T09:52:00.004-06:00

A while back we briefly discussed how the Gophers were looking to diversify their offense a bit prior to the Insight Bowl, primarily by running the ball more. Well, according to Kent Youngblood's Gopher Blog, that looks to be the case:

"There I was, watching the first half-hour of the Gophers’ first practice, and I’m seeing I-formations. I’m seeing fullbacks. I’m seeing offensive linemen put their hand on the ground... Quarterback Adam Weber opined that the Gophers could line up with two backs and the QB under center as much as 40 percent of the time once everybody has the changes down cold. Now, that might not happen by the time Minnesota plays in the Insight Bowl. But you can bet you’ll see some of it against Kansas."

I'm not saying this will be enough for Minnesota to pull the upset, but it sure as hell helps and it's just one more reason why the ridiculously long hiatus between the season and the Bowls makes no sense whatsoever.

By the way, this link came to us via Gopher Football which has also posted a podcast with our old pal DJ from HawkDigest.

Bowl Picks

2008-12-18T16:02:00.006-06:00

With bowl season fast approaching it's probably time to get the picks in. However, with my record as it is (24-24 ATS and 38-10 SU), I'll only be officially picking the games that involve Big XII teams. But because I spoil you, I'll also throw in quick picks for the Poinsettia Bowl and the remaining BCS games. Between those, that should cover every relevant team in the country this year.

Poinsettia: Tuesday, 12/23 @ 7:00 pm
TCU v. Boise State (+2.5) I base this pick on precisely nothing, except that I've learned not to doubt Boise State. I really like TCU and can't even explain how much I wish Jerry Hughes were a Jayhawk, but I'm wholly unimpressed with their offense to the point that I think the Broncos will do just enough to sneak out a win. Boise 23 TCU 20

Alamo: Monday, 12/29 @ 7:00 pm
Northwestern v. Missouri (-12.5) This has become a chic pick for an upset. And quite an upset it would be as it's currently the largest spread on the board. As much as I'd be just fine with watching Chase whine through his last four quarters as he did last time in the Alamodome, I just don't see it. I'm higher on Penn State than most, but past them (and OSU to an extent) I saw absolutely no one in the entire conference worth taking seriously this year. Missouri 45 Northwestern 24

Holiday: Tuesday, 12/30 @ 7:00 pm
Oregon v. Oklahoma State (-3) I think the Cowboys are favored on conference perception alone, but they're still plenty good to win this game. With that said, Oregon looked great the last few weeks of the season and while part of that has to be attributed to competition, it was also plenty legitimate. Put simply, this is a game I want to watch if for no other reason than both of these teams have dynamite offenses predicated on moving the ball on the ground, but with playmakers all over the field. No amount of analysis would take you very far with this one, so I'll channel my inner woman and pick the team whose uniforms are less ugly. OSU 41 Oregon 35

Insight Bowl: New Year's Eve @ 4:00 pm
Minnesota v. Kansas (-10) Simply put, as long as over-confidence doesn't set in, this really shouldn't be a game. I think Tim Brewster deserves a ton of respect for what he's done in a short time there, but Minnesota just isn't that good. We've touched on this some and there's plenty more to come, but in the end it always comes back to that point. If Kansas is focused, energized, and protects the football they'll wrap it up by halftime. If they play sloppy and allow the under-heralded Minnesota defensive line to force some mistakes, then they could be in for a long game. But with Mangino cracking the (hopefully) proverbial whip I'll be betting on the former. Kansas 38 Minnesota 20

Gator: New Year's Day @ 12:00 pm
Clemson v. Nebraska (+2.5) One of the toughest picks on the board, I don't think anyone has a clue what to expect here. After all, Clemson is coached by a guy named Dabo. But his players do seem to be buying into his energetic tactics. The talent is there for this to be a very good team, but they rarely look the part. Nebraska, on the other hand, has done a fine job masking their weakness (defense) by developing a ball control offense that doesn't entirely depend on running the ball. This sounds very simple, but few coaches are willing to admit their weakness and/or cannot do anything to hide it. Pelini has done both, while also forming an offense that can put some points on the board. I may be succumbing to a little conference bias here, but I'll take the Huskers. Nebraska 35 Clemson 31

Rose Bowl: New Year's Day @ 3:30 pm
USC v. Penn State (+9.5) The Trojan defense is fantastic whenever it's not trying to tackle Jacquizz Rogers. But despite their future pros on offense, have we really seen anything from that unit to warrant a line like this? I know I haven't and yet I'm still struggling with this pick because of how little I trust the Penn State offense. The best defense they faced was Ohio State and they put up a measly 13 points, so it's hard to expect them to get much more than that. In fact, that's exactly what I'll give them. USC 21 Penn State 13

Orange: New Year's Day @ 7:30 pm
Cincinnati v. Virginia Tech (+2) I can't imagine knowing any less about a BCS team than I do Cincinnati. What I do know is that they have a similar resume to Kansas a year ago, only if Kansas had been humiliated by LSU (Oklahoma) and then later by Colorado (Connecticut). But since neither of those things happened, I'll put my cash money on Virginia Tech. After all, the ACC could really use a BCS win one of these days. VT 23 Cincy 17

Cotton: Friday, 1/2 @ 1:00 pm
Ole Miss v. Texas Tech (-5.5) Can you believe just two games ago Tech had the two Heisman frontrunners and were becoming a popular pick for the MNC? Now they're not even a touchdown favorite over Houston Nutt and Jevan Snead. If it weren't for Mike Leach doing everything in his power to get out of Lubbock, I'd be taking Tech by a few touchdowns. As it is, I'm going to say the Rebs keeps it close longer than the Raiders would like. Tech 38 Ole Miss 28

Sugar: Friday, 1/2 @ 7:00 pm
Utah v. Alabama (-10) Like Penn State, I think the Utes are being under-valued here. I really like what Saban has done and I was higher on Bama than most in thinking that they could beat Florida. How fucking good is Julio Jones?! Unfortunately, there was just too much JPW. And that will again be the case in New Orleans. Of course, Utah isn't Florida so it won't be enough for the enormous upset, but it just might be enough to keep the game in single digits. Then again, Saban is getting a month to prepare here. I'm glad this isn't a pick with real Euros riding on it. And since I just remembered that Bill Snyder wooed away their offensive coordinator I'll be disregarding my earlier statements and taking Bama to cover. Alabama 23 Utah 10

Fiesta: Monday, 1/5 @ 7:00 pm
Ohio State v. Texas (-9.5) The only real question here is how Texas comes out of the gates. If they've been focused for a month and intent on channeling their BCS hate into proving that they belonged in Miami then they'll have things wrapped up by the end of the third quarter. If they've been sulking to Dan Beebe about what coulda/shoulda been, then Ohio State will make them earn it. Ultimately, I have a lot of trust in Colt McCoy and even more in Will Muschamp that they've been doing the former. If that's the case, this one won't be a nail-biter. Texas 33 Aosu 17

MNC: Thursday, 1/8 @ 7:00 pm
Florida v. Oklahoma (+3) This pick may be entirely based upon me doing everything in my power to cut down on this country's Tebowners, but what the hell. I really don't like Oklahoma. In fact, I dislike them quite a bit. But I really hate Florida. And Tim Tebow is a circumcising douche. And Gary Danielson loves him for it. All of these seem like perfectly legitimate reasons for me to pick the Sooners. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure that's how the hundred or so freakish athletes on the field will see things. By the way, Florida has more of those. Specifically, they've got fast ends that just might make Phil Loadholt look like Oprah through most of the second half. And yet, I'm bound and determined to do away with Tebowners so I'm counting on the Big Egg Bob to deliver the Big XII sweep of 7 wins and 0 losses this bowl season. Oklahoma 41 Florida 35

Not Again

2008-12-18T09:21:00.003-06:00

It seems KU has again filed suit against Joe-College owner, Larry Sinks. I will never deny the good Lew Perkins has done for the University and I'll forever be grateful. But the ticket thing is getting out of hand. And these trivial lawsuits aimed at an independent entrepreneur are getting out of hand. Larry Sinks might be your typical asshole (or so I've heard) and he may even be in the wrong by some accounts of the law. But even if that's the case, isn't this just bringing bad publicity to the University and costing as much or more than they can expect to be paid anyway? I guess I just see no upside for KU in this - win or lose. Your thoughts?

Todd's Impact on Lake Travis

2008-12-17T16:10:00.005-06:00

As you all know, Todd Reesing attended Lake Travis HS in Austin, Texas. What you may or may not know is that until he took the reigns his junior season they pretty much sucked. Their best season ever was a 7-5 campaign in which they were Bi-district champions. The following three years they would go a combined 4-26. Todd would then take over, become the Texas state player of the year as a junior and lead them to 8-3 as the District champs. As a senior they would go 11-1 as Bi-District champs. Since he graduated they've gone 8-3 (District champs) and 15-1 (State champions) and they're set to defend their State Championship this Saturday. And yes, I attribute all of this success to him. As for the picture, that's the weight room for the football team at Lake Travis. You can see the rest of the weight room pictures here. The one below is their indoor practice facility. The rest of which, in addition to the film room, offices and statues of alumni (yes, Todd has one) can bee seen here. Perhaps we're going to need to come up with another $31 million if these are the facilities high school athletes are now enjoying.

Gary Danielson's Tebowner Lives On...

2008-12-17T13:58:00.003-06:00

On Fox Sports Radio Monday, Danielson was asked about the 154 voters who left Tebow off their ballot (brilliant baiting job on their part) - Danielson had this to say:

"Well, because it's a strategy ...That's exactly why it's done. That's why I gave up my Heisman vote about four or five years ago. I just thought this thing is a joke and I don't want to be a part of it. And by the way, I resigned from the Davey O'Brien award this year for the same reason. The Davey O'Brien wanted me to vote for the outstanding quarterback in college football and here were my choices: Colt McCoy, great player, Sam Bradford, great player, and Graham Harrell, great player. But how can all three of the great players be from the same league? I mean come on, if you're going to have an award, you got to have Tim Tebow on that award this year don't you? I just said I'm not interested. I really don't even like these things and if the Heisman wasn't out of New York, nobody would care."

I should note that by his logic, had Tebow been the quarterback at Tech this year, he would not have merited consideration because he would then have been in the same league as Bradford and McCoy. Then what, Gary? Is that a world your ready to live in? Tread lightly, my friend.

Happy Mullet Wednesday!

2008-12-17T09:46:00.002-06:00

Rise and shine, mullet lovers. This giddy fuck is happy to have you here at KJ-IBT and is honored to wish you a happy and a healthy MULLET WEDNESDAY! In other news, despite my claims to not care about recruiting, I want to direct you to Rock Chalk Talk, where denverjhawk has an informative post up about some of the recruits were looking at for the class of 2010. You'll be interested to know that we're listed as a possibility for 6 of the top 100, according to rivals.

A "little" bit of good news

2008-12-17T01:43:00.004-06:00

Not groundbreaking as it has been talked about since he was released from 'Zona but...

While this is just a rumor at this point, Jeff Whitey, who was released from Arizona recently, is likely to be on the move to join KU for the 2nd semester. That would mean a year to get acclimated and be ready for court time next January. I have a pretty decent source on this, but you never know in this crazy NCAA recruitment world. I needed something to take the Mario Little injury sting out of me. Oh, his high school coach seems to think the same.(at the end of the article)

And Lance Stephenson is down to 2 schools, St. Johns and KU. If we missed out on him, that would make the 4th elite wing we came in 2nd on, come on Lance.

Unbreakable...

2008-12-16T21:59:00.004-06:00

So I was pretty hyped when Mario Little (aka Elijah Price) started practicing again recently and looked forward to seeing him pick up where Brandon left off last year. Appears I will have to wait a little longer...

Little Breaks Bone in Left Hand Will Miss 2-4 Weeks

Red Shirt?

Idiocy...

2008-12-16T15:45:00.003-06:00

...the most sincere form of flattery? Move over Ocho Cinco, there is a new retard come lately. Stylez G. White, formerly Greg White(Tampa Bay, DE), is the new crowned king of attention whoring. He's bringing "Teen Wolf" back in a big way...I didn't even think there was a black guy in that whole movie come to think of it. So here is an "artist" rendering of what this unholy marriage of Stylez and Greg would look like.
On the plus side, he could easily get away with wearing that shirt. And now, my favorite quote from that movie:

Scott Howard: Styles, I got something to tell you. It's kind of hard, but...
Stiles: Look, are you gonna tell me you're a fag because if you're gonna tell me you're a fag, I don't think I can handle it.
Scott Howard: I'm not a fag. I'm... a werewolf.

I know it isn't KU related, but damn if it isn't funny

Brother Dan Has Upped the Ante

2008-12-16T15:11:00.005-06:00

Colorado was a trendy sleeper pick out of the north this year, what with top rated recruit Darrell Scott entering the fold in Boulder this year. Instead, Scott ran 87 times for a 343 (or 3.9 per carry) for an impressive one touchdown while Colorado struggled to five wins. But no longer. Says Dan,

"10 wins and no excuses."

With a quick glance at their schedule, I suppose it's doable. The non-conference games consist of three nothings and a trip to West Virginia to play a Mountaineer team devoid of Pat White and overwhelmed with Bill Stewart. They must travel to Austin and Stillwater, but every other legitimate opponent has to come to Boulder. So crazy as it sounds, I can see his point. It should be noted, however, that in 3 seasons he has a grand total of 13 wins and is still planning to start his son at quarterback.

Bryant Allen May Choose Kansas

2008-12-16T08:44:00.003-06:00

I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about our recruiting in either football or basketball. I try and keep up with basketball, because there are fewer of them and enough exposure that I feel like I'm actually able to get a read on them. Football, not so much. But I stumbled upon some news today over at Mizzourah that Bryant Allen, a touted WR of Maplewood, MO has eliminated MU from contention and will ultimately decide between the two Insight Bowl participants. Intrigued, I did as much research as someone without any subscriptions can do and came acorss this quote from Allen:

"I don't think negative of Mizzou for losing to Kansas or Oklahoma," he said. "Oklahoma especially has a really good team. It just seems like Missouri can't handle the big games."

I like him already. Also of note were these excerpts from the article:

"Allen finished his senior season (13-1) with over 1,000 yards receiving and 29 touchdowns. He reports a 3.2 core GPA and a 22 ACT."

Sounds like he'd be a great addition. He's set to announce his decision on Thursday.

Tim Griffin Likes Our Chances Next Year

2008-12-15T14:47:00.003-06:00

At the close of our season review he says:

"And with the return of key players like Reesing, Sharp, Dexton Fields and Kerry Meier, a run at the Big 12 North title wouldn't be out of the question next season -- even with a tough slate of Big 12 South opponents again next season."

I know he doesn't follow Kansas as closesly as I do, but if you're going to publish stuff under the umbrella of the WWL I don't think it's too much to ask that you remember the names of guys who have 78 catches for 1206 yards and 12 TDs. Dezmon certainly doesn't have the household vitality of a Crabtree, but he's not exactly obscure either, especially for a Big XII "expert." And yes, I might have a case of the Mondays.

Is Bill Using Sherron the Right Way?

2008-12-15T12:59:00.004-06:00

They've both earned the right to make a few mistakes sans criticism. But I think this is a fair question. Sherron is the unquestioned leader of this team. He has the most experience on this team. He plays harder than anyone on this team. And he's definitely the best player on this team. But he is still on a team. And part of being on a team is playing with that team to create something that's better than the sum of its parts. I don't believe that's being done.

Quite publicly, Bill has said that this team will go as far as Sherron can take them and that he should be taking 18-20 or so shots per game. To an extent I believe the first part of that statement, but I wondered about the second and a simple look at the numbers calls it even more into question. For reference, Sherron has taken more than 17 shots exactly twice this year. In those two games we're 0-2 and he has combined to score 40 points on 33% shooting while totaling six assists and four turnovers. The points are great, but not when they come at a price of wasting possessions with bad shots. But more importantly, we're winless win it happens. In the other seven games we're undefeated. And not coincidentally, the time he took 17 (Jackson State) we looked pretty awful despite ultimately winning by 24. Every other time he's taken 14 or less and we've looked demonstrably better. Now, I'll be the first to admit that other factors are at work here and both of those games were plenty winnable, but in the end I think it's pretty tough to refute that it's at least a significant factor. If we can get him 20 good looks a game, then I'm all for it, but if we're going to get him 5 and he's going to get 15 on his own, then I think we're being counter-productive.

Shocking as it may seem, Tom Keegan hit the nail on the head when he said that this team won't grow until Sherron learns to trust his teammates. I could not agree more and I'd actually add that the assertion extends to Bill Self as well. Having lunch with Ryan Robertson the other week, he remarked to me that he didn't feel like Brady or Tyrel looked confident enough to make a play when they had the chance. I think Tyrel has somewhat come out of that lately, but Brady still looks a little hesitant. And honestly, when every single person watching the game knows what play you're going to run and you do exactly that, it's hard to argue this point. I'm all for putting the most trust into the guy that's been there, but if neither he nor the coach trusts the rest of the guys on the floor, how are we to expect them to step up when it's needed? Do we really think Sherron is so much better than everyone else that we trust him more to make a shot while being double-teamed than we trust anyone else to make one wide open? If so, I think that's a problem.

Like I've said above, I think both Bill and Sherron have earned our trust. But I also don't think that makes them immune from either mistakes or criticism. And right now, I think they're making a big one. It's very easy to point the blame at the Morris' for a lack of hustle or even Sherron for being a little selfish, but I think it's more than that. I think Bill is treating him differently than he has anyone else before and certainly anyone else on this team and I don't think it's conducive for improving the team as a whole. It's easy to find pros and cons when things are going well, but it's much more informative to figure out the tendencies that pop up when your back's against the wall. And while there are plenty of others to point to as well, I think this is the most prevalent and also the most concerning.

What are your thoughts?

KU Loses to UMass

2008-12-13T20:28:00.003-06:00

The loss in itself isn't that big of deal. UMass isn't nearly as bad as their record would indicate and that was plenty on display today. What's disappointing is the utter stupidity that we showed throughout the game. Witness:

Cole Aldrich having a few inches on EVERYONE that was on the court. Not to mention that he was an easy 5-8 for the game. You can point to this as a problem for the entire game, because a guy shooting that percentage with that advantage who only had 1 foul should EASILY get 12-15 shots. But despite that lack of common sense, it seems pretty simple to give him a look from 5 feet with the game on the line. But no...

Sherron Collins has to shoot whenever everything isn't flowing perfectly. As I've stated, and I'm sure you all agree, we're eternally indebted to Sherron for obvious reasons, but he is not a good leader when a team needs to pull together. He was as big a part as anyone in letting us fall behind in the first half by thinking he's the only one capable of scoring and EVERYONE in the Sprint Center knew we were going to try and isolate him on the last play. I'm all for letting your best player make a play - and Sherron is definitely that - but when you have nearly 20 seconds and it's blatantly obvious that's the ONLY thing they're guarding, look fucking elsewhere. I would love to think this crossed Bill's mind, but I know that it didn't.

I won't blame the referees, simply because I never do. I believe that's something you have to play through. But frost-tipped John Higgins sure had a cock on his mind this afternoon. I'd say there were 7 bad calls in the second half (6 on us, 1 on them) and he made all seven. Three of them were beyond awful as my twelve year old sister could have easily attested. This was truly a pathetic display and Welmer really should have stepped in to get control. Instead, he pulled up his pants. I guess we should have seen that coming. Let's just say I'll be bringing this one to the attention of Jim Haney and the NABC. Yeah, it was that bad.

And lastly, we'll have more on this game later, but if there's a worse team in that nation at feeding the post, I want to see them. Tyshawn does a ton of good for us (though not really today), but he looks worse than anyone in this capacity. And frankly, they're all bad. I'll just quit right now, because I'll just come off bad, but there really isn't anything easier to do on pure common sense than feeding the post and we look like a band of retards every time we try to do it. Very frustrating, to say the least. Thank everything for April of 2008 because it really makes these kinds of games easier to swallow. Speaking of swallowing, does it get much hotter than Megan Fox Alright, I feel a little better. Back to bars we go...

Predicting 2009 in 2008

2008-12-12T12:12:00.004-06:00

I realize the utter importance of this bowl game as much as anyone. As we all know, a winning season is assured and we all realize the enormous difference in having a 7-5 or 6-6 regular season. And actually, I believe that the difference between 8-5 and 7-6 is even more significant from both a local and national view – especially in the never-ending game of recruiting. But as is my right as someone who has outgrown their athletic prowess, I can start looking toward next year with nary a repercussion. So that's exactly what I'm going to do as we walk through the 2009 schedule.

9/5 v. Northern Colorado – Quite obviously this is a must-win game. And fortunately, winning it shouldn't be a problem. Out of the Big Sky, the Bears went a pitiful 1-10 this season in the FCS, playing one FBS team, Purdue, and losing that game 42-10. Their one win came over Idaho State who started the season 0-11 before winning their final bout in OT to finish a paltry 1-11. W: 1-0

9/12 @ UTEP – This is also a must-win, but won't come nearly as easily as the first. A C-USA loss is clearly inexcusable, but that doesn't mean the win will come easily. The Miners finished the season 5-7, beating no one of real significance though being in several games against some of their better competition. In fact, they were only down 28-13 into the fourth quarter when Texas came out to El Paso in September. W: 2-0

9/19 v. Duke – As you may or may not know, Duke experienced noticeable improvement this year, despite being the only ACC team that didn't finish within 2 games of winning its division. Which says a lot about where they were. But more than that was the fact that they were actually in most games (only 3 losses by more than 2 scores) and even won some of actual significance (Vandy, Virginia & Navy). By bringing in David Cutliffe – one of the best quarterback coaches in the country – they showed actual signs of life on offense and are bound to improve even more next year. This should and will be a win, but Duke isn't as awful as you might imagine. Now we need to get them to come to Lawrence for basketball – quit being a pussy, Coach K. W: 3-0

9/26 v. Southern Mississippi – The Golden Eagles will represent our lone bowl team on the 2009 non-conference slate. Wow, that's sad. At 6-6 this season they will take on Troy in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl so get your DVR's ready for Dec. 21 @ 8:15 on ESPN. Thank goodness we're preserving the integrity of the regular season. W: 4-0 (Predicted SOS of roughly 115 putting us well ahead of Texas Tech, but in shameless position all the same.)

10/10 v. Iowa State – For the second year in a row, we have to waste our bye week on Iowa State. At least this year we got one before Missouri too, but we aren't so fortunate in 2009. As you saw this year, ISU darted out to a 2-0 start before ultimately losing their final 10 games which obviously gave them a winless conference season keeping them at 3 league wins combined over the past three seasons. They actually do have some playmakers that look very out of place there, but I don't think I'm reaching to call this one a win. W: 5-0 (1-0, 1-0)

10/17 @ Colorado – By far the biggest test of the season to date, one never knows what they're going to get out of the Buffs, especially in Boulder where it's never a gimme. With Cody Hawkins actually looking competent lately, Smith & McKnight on the outside and Stewart and Scott returning in the backfield, Colorado has some potential to be a little salty. But they had that same potential this year and did just a shade under nothing anyway. It will be semi-useless predicting what we'll get out of them the day before the game, let alone 10 months prior, but I'll remain optimistic and notch us a sixth win. W: 6-0 (2-0, 2-0)

10/24 v. Oklahoma – Even if we've followed Vegas' suggestion and gone 6-0, we likely won't have garnered any real respect, which is entirely understandable. But win this week and that will all change. Unfortunately, we have no idea what kind of Sooner team we'll see. We're all sure they'll be good, but depending on draft defections that level of good could vacillate anywhere from 9 to 14 wins on the year. I remain utterly convinced this will be a winnable game, but the odds aren't likely to bear that out and until we know more I'll remain on the safe side and notch us our first loss on the season in valiant fashion. L: 6-1 (2-1, 2-0)

10/31 @ Texas Tech – As you all well know, I personally believe the tech game this year to be one of, if not THE, single worst loss in Kansas history given the expectations around it and how it actually played out. Whether or not that's hyperbole is irrelevant. What is relevant is whether we can make up for that loss by stealing a very important win in moribund Lubbock. And knowing they'll still be breaking in Taylor Potts, that Crabtree will (likely) be gone and the o-line graduates, it's entirely possible. But with Leach apparently now staying along with Batch, Lewis, & Swindall, you have to assume they'll have the offense humming by Halloween. Since most of their D returns as well (excluding the safeties), I'll keep playing it safe, but this is another very winnable game in my estimation. L: 6-2 (2-2, 2-0)

11/7 @ K-State – You know the purple pussies will be wanting a win here. In fact, I'm just arrogant enough to believe that they'd accept 1-11 if the one ended their losing streak to the Jayhawks. The old coot is assembling what appears to be a solid staff and we all know the primary reason he's coming back is to get as far away from his family as possible, so they'll put in the time and have their kids ready. Fortunately, their kids mostly consist of unwanted JUCO transfers and no-talent ass clowns. Despite falling into the first category I'm excluding Brandon Banks. W: 7-2 (3-2, 3-0)

11/14 v. Nebraska – This, as much as any game on the schedule, is a must win. If we're to assume three south losses, anything less than 5-0 in the north likely won't be good enough and as we all saw this year, you better win the ones you have to if you want to come out on top in a tiebreaker. And given that Nebraska gets their tough south opponents (OU, Tech) at home they have an enormous scheduling advantage. Generally, I like what Pelini has done this year. More than anything, he recognized his primary weakness and did everything in his power to hide that weakness. Sounds simple, but it's rarely done. However, he'll likely lose his best defender (Suh) if he declares early and he'll be losing his QB, top two receivers, and best lineman (Slauson) to graduation. So we don't know a ton about the 2009 Huskers just yet, though I imagine they'll want to hand off to Helu a minimum of 20 times a game. W: 8-2 (4-2, 4-0)

11/21 @ Texas – With it being Todd's senior year in his hometown this would be a great win to get. And I'm sure he'll play his ass off to get that win. But given what we know today, we shouldn't expect much of a dip out of Texas next year. That could certainly change as they do lose some vital pieces, but even so we all know Texas will have the advantage physically. As of this day, this is probably the least-winnable game on the 2009 schedule. L: 8-3 (4-3, 4-0)

11/28 v. Missouri @ Arrowhead – There's a chance this will be for the north, though I think Nebraska will be right there as well with their schedule advantage. With that said, MU gets Texas & Baylor at home while only having to travel to Stillwater so if either of the Blaine's are any good, they could be in good shape as well. As is the case when you're doing this before the end of the prior season, let alone the draft, it's pretty tough predicting how they'll be without Booger pulling the trigger that ultimately shoots them in the foot. But given that we should get better, and they should get worse, and we just beat them on this same field, I'll favor the Jayhawks. W: 9-3 (5-3, 5-0)

12/5 Big XII Championship @ Jerry's World: Kansas v. Texas

Do you agree - Are we the 2009 representative from the Big XII north? Can we win any of our games against the south?

Angus Quigley

2008-12-11T21:35:00.001-06:00

So as you all know by now the staff is experimenting with Angus at linebacker (presumably OLB). Quite obviously, he has all the physical requirements and from the looks of things, he doesn't shy away from contact. Given all this and his penchant for fumbling a switch over the defense to take advantage of his athleticism seems very logical.

But I have to ask why we can't just teach him to hold onto the damn ball? He's got the size, speed, vision and mentality to be a perfect between the tackles, fall-forward kind of guy. Jake will obviously be the incumbent, but unless we're 100% sure Crawford can fill this role in complimentary fashion, this seems like a risk. Even more than that, a move to the other side of the ball, let alone one as assignment heavy as OLB seems like an extremely tough move to make.

I can absolutely see this working from a physical standpoint and he generally looks alright on special teams, but I'm not nearly as convinced as everyone else seems to be.

What are your thoughts?

First Glance at the Gophers

2008-12-11T15:23:00.008-06:00

Before we get started, I have a few links of differing levels of interest. The first comes to us from Blair Kirkhoff of the KC Star. Many moons ago I read this article and decided to store it in my digital notebook for the opportune time. After four humbling defeats and calls for Eberflus' head, now seems ideal.

Secondly, we have a couple Minnesota links for you. The first, which you may want to check periodically for the next few weeks, is the resident Minnesota blog, The Daily Gopher. Interestingly, I was perusing the blog and actually took a link to a Kansas blog, VraniFieldhouse. It's not entirely Kansas, but from the looks of it, that's the primary concentration. Here's their piece on why Kansas Will Blast Minnesota. And lastly, a piece from the Pioneer Press that discusses how the Gophers are planning to change their offense prior to the Insight Bowl. And no, I can't type or say the word gopher and think of anything aside from Carl Spackler and Caddyshack.

With that out of the way, I do have an actual post for you today. I wanted to do one on the league's current status on the hardwood. But since I've only watched roughly half the teams and not even yet seen Baylor (that Wazzu win is impressive, though) I thought I better hold off or risk coming off as your typical uniformed, box score "analyst." Instead, I decided to keep with the spirit of the season, which, despite the large hiatus, technically still belongs to football. With that, I think it's time to take our first gander at the Gophers. Off topic, but I can't help but wish this bowl were still called the Copper rather than Insight. I don't know why. Moving on...

QB – Adam Weber. 63% completion. 2585 yards (6.9/attempt). 14 TDs and 8 INTS. He's also carried 115 times for 202 yards (1.8 per) and 4 TDs and was sacked a Big 11 most 28 times. Speaking of how he fared within his conference, it's worth noting that the 63% led the league. His 2585 yards was second to Juice Williams while the 14 TDs were good for third. It's also worth noting that in the Big XII his completion % would have been good for ninth. His yardage also ninth. And his TDs would be 13th. So while I don't want to take away from what Tim Brewster has done and I really don't want to underestimate the Gophers, it's pretty safe to say that despite the relative success they had with the spread in the Big 11, we've seen offenses that are slightly more potent.

Truth be told, I haven't seen this guy play nearly enough to have a real idea of what he likes to do. I'm under the impression that he's somewhat of a playmaker and given his completion percentage, he seems to be pretty accurate. As is the case against any spread offense, the primary key will be messing up timing and if possible, getting pressure. Do those two things, or even one, and we're likely to limit their offensive success.

RB – DeLeon Eskridge. Gotta love that name. 170 carries for 652 yards (3.8 per) and 7 TDs. He also has 28 catches for 181 yards. Again, I don't know nearly enough about him or his team to accurately assess what he does for them. But it's safe to say that running the ball isn't really their forte as he is far and away the leader in both yards and attempts. The entire team only has 1,270 yards (3.2 per) and 18 TDs on the ground for the year. And his 170 carries average out to just over 14/game with him only going over 20 three times.

WR/TE – Eric Decker. We'll touch on a couple others below, but seeing as how he has 45 more catches than his closest teammate it's a safe assumption that he's the primary target. His stats: 76 grabs for 925 yards and 6 TDs - all of which would rank behind both Dez and Kerry – yet were good enough for 1st, 2nd, & 2nd respectively, within his entire league. Again, I'm not taking away from what he did, but it just goes to show you what kind of offenses we've been facing off against when he's first team all-conference and yet on stats alone he'd be no better than our #3 receiver.

Whereas Decker is a clear #1, it doesn't look like Weber has a definitive second option. Ben Kuznia and Jack Simmons are next in line by number of receptions with 31 & 32, respectively. Keeping with their similarities, Kuznia had 310 yards (0 TDs) and Simmons 300 (2 TDs). Eskridge is next with his 28, with Brandon Green (18-260-1), Nick Tow-Arnett (10-211-1) & Duane Bennett (12-125-1) rounding out those with double digit catches.

Long story short, Decker has caught about 32% of Weber's completions, he accounts for over 36% of their receiving yards, and he's scored 43% of their passing touchdowns. I'm sure that shutting him down is no easy task, but if accomplished, you've effectively stopped the Gopher offense. It's also worth noting that after tearing it up early - 469 of his yards (51%) came against Montana State, FAU, & Indiana - in the last 3 games combined (all losses) he had 3 catches for 30 yards and 0 TDs and Minnesota scored 6, 32, and 0 in these games. Maybe he was hurt (anyone know?), but if not then I think the template has been set.

I'd love to analyze their offensive linemen, but I have nothing of substance to say. Like I said, I've watched them a few times, but never closely enough to really see how their line works or even if anyone in particular stands out (for good or bad). But I do know that their offense ranks 91st nationally (322/game) - rushing is 104th (106) & passing 57th (216) – against what is generously listed as the 77th toughest schedule in the nation despite seeing only 1 ranked team along the way (Ohio State) with Iowa & Northwestern a distant 2nd & 3rd. Take from that what you will, but I'm inclined to believe that if they can't run the ball and they allowed a conference worst 28 sacks then the offensive line is not exactly their best asset and truthfully, it just might be their weakest.

More to come later, but this should be enough to whet your appetite for the time being. After all the only good varmint poontang is dead varmint poontang.

Happy Mullet Wednesday! (x2)

2008-12-10T21:00:00.004-06:00

My sincerest apologies are in order for depriving you of your weekly mullet shot last week. I'm ashamed with myself and you deserve better, so today we have for you:

this standard serial killer mullet... AND the goldilocks mullet on this furry gent... I must say it's pretty rare that we can find a picture of such a glorious mullet and yet somehow the guy in the background ultimately steals the show. A feat indeed. HAPPY MULLET WEDNESDAY!

Serious Medical Condition

2008-12-10T15:55:00.003-06:00

It seems our greatest fears have been realized and Gary Danielson did indeed have to be rushed to the emergency room late Saturday night. To those of us watching CBS that afternoon it comes as no surprise, though it's no less concerning. Get well soon, Gary. You've got gimmicky offenses and players to denounce, so we need you ready and able sooner rather than later.

A Look at the Offensive Depth Chart for 2009

2008-12-09T11:35:00.002-06:00

If you're devoted enough to be reading this relatively obscure blog, you're well aware of what the Kansas Jayhawks will be returning on offense in 2009. And even though this 2008 team has one big thing left to accomplish, now seems an ideal time to take a gander at exactly how next year's offense should look. Prior to doing so, I would like to direct your attention to the Sports Business Journal and it's listing of the gifts teams will be receiving for bowls - Insight: 26" Vizio LCD HDTV, Bulova watch and a hat and I'm guessing there will be more. Onto the projections...

QB – Todd Reesing, Kale Pick. Obviously what we're most excited about is the prospect of Todd returning for his senior campaign and possibly breaking even more of his own records. But the story here is Pick moving to second string ahead of Kerry Meier. And while I don't know this to be the case, I would anticipate it being so, in order to: 1) start getting him prepared for the following year; & 2) to give Kerry a fair shot at being a full-time receiver.

RB – Jake Sharp, Jocques Crawford, Angus Quigley. Until proven otherwise, Jake will remain the guy here. And if you doubt that, please rewatch the Missouri game in which neither of the other two touched the ball, despite Jake having broken ribs. However, while Jake has shown he can carry the load, he's still not a guy that falls forward, but rather one who hits the hole he's given. My guess is he's still the guy, but if either of the others can prove that they can get the tough yards AND hang onto the ball, they'll be sure to get some big time minutes as well.

WR – Dezmon Briscoe, Kerry Meier, Jonathan Wilson, Raimond Pendleton, Rod Smith, Jr. After the first three, it's pretty speculative and I wouldn't be shocked to see Daymond move back to this side of the ball. The important thing to notice here is the top three returning. We all know what Dezmon and Kerry can do. Though if Dez's improvement from year 1 to year 2 is any indication, he could get even better. And it will be interesting to see how Kerry's game changes if he really does become a full-time receiver. As for Wilson, I'm tempted to believe we haven't yet seen his best. I don't have much to prove that aside from comparing Dez's 2007 stats (43 for 497 & 7) to Wilson's from this season (41 for 556 and 2). I'm not suggesting he'll make the same leap, but a reasonable improvement seems plenty reasonable and we all know the ability is there (see: South Florida and Texas).

TE – Tim Biere, Bradley Dedeaux, A.J. Steward. I feel like Biere is pretty supplanted here and for good reason. He seems to be a good blocker and as a true freshman, he's obviously got time to get much bigger and better. He also seems very sure handed and I would think we'll want to incorporate him into the passing game more as we're able to trust our tackles a bit more. Not much to analyze yet with the others as Dedeaux is the blocker and Steward supposed to be the playmaker. But with Biere able to do both as well or better than the others, he doesn't look to be moving anytime soon. Another sign of him having a hold on this spot is that Tanner Hawkinson (highly rated TE recruit) moved to DE during the year, so apparently the writing is on the wall there.

LT – Jeff Spikes, Ian Wolfe. Here's my first real leap of faith. As you all know, Spikes switched to RT at the start of conference play as he was a bit behind Hatch in terms of being able to set his feet. The move worked well and while Spikes still probably isn't quite ready, I think they really want him back at left. I've been told they think his ceiling is much higher than Anthony Collins' and it's already clear that he's very much improved at getting to the second level in the run game. If we can get him a little quicker off the ball and a little quicker into his stance, he has a ton of potential at LT.

LG – Jeremiah Hatch, Trevor Marrongelli. Another leap of faith on my part, Hatch really should be a guard. As much as he filled a need at tackle, he was out of position at only 6'3" and with short arms even for that size. Hatch handles size and strength by matching them with his own and utilizing his good feet. But he struggles against speed rushers off the edge, and really, there isn't much he can do about it other than get back into his stance as quickly as possible, which makes him vulnerable to inside moves. All of this adds up to him being a perfect fit at guard if Spikes can regain his spot at LT. I'm basing a lot of this one having a full year to get better, but if it happens, you can bet we'll be running left on a regular basis.

C – Brad Thorson. This is absolute speculation. But for those that don't know Thorson came to us as a transfer from Wisconsin after leaving the team (perhaps by mandate). I don't actually know the details, but I'm under the impression that it stemmed from a fight and/or dirty play in practice. And while I don't necessarily condone that, I can't say I mind that type of a mean streak out of my offensive linemen. Like I said, I don't know anything about his abilities, but from what I've heard, we can expect him to step in and do well though I think we've been pretty spoiled with Ochoa and Cantrell the last few years.

RG – Sal Capra, Carl Wilson. As you've likely noticed, Capra has actually taken quite a few snaps from both Mayes and Hartley throughout the year. Part of that was to give Hartley's knees a rest and part was production. He came to us as a linebacker, so he's not entirely refined as an o-lineman yet, but he has proven capable. There are several others that could also vie for this spot, including Wilson, but Capra is the only one to have earned PT thus far, so for now I think we have to look at him as the likely replacement.

RT – Ben Leuken, Nathan D'Cunha. And pretty much all of this depends on Leuken taking this spot. Given that he was given plenty of snaps here, mostly late in games, and burned his RS in the process, I'm inclined to think Mangino was trying to get him some reps and proper evaluation in order to put him here next year. In his limited duty, it was clear that he'll need to add weight and muscle, but he has the quickness, height, reach and motor to be a very productive player. D'Cunha seems to be a bust for the time being, but only time will tell.

At the skill positions we clearly return more talent than anyone else in the north and really, the entire league. But as we all saw this year, the key is on the offensive line. We have to replace three positions there and if I'm right we may do some realignment as well. If we can get enough stability there to generate an effective running game and give Todd some time this offense stands to get even better and will almost assuredly be the best in the north.

Your thoughts?

Weekend Ramblings

2008-12-08T13:01:00.015-06:00

Just a quick reaction to the weekend for you today, somewhat mimicking Bill Simmons' ramblings…

First off, thanks for everything, Chancellor Hemenway.

Secondly, congrats to OU & Florida for earning the right to play in the MNC, the latter much moreso than the former. Speaking of the former, what was with all of the oranges? You do know the MNC and the Orange Bowl are two separate entities, correct? I suppose I'm expecting too much out of Okies.

Keeping with Florida, Tim Tebow is quite the douche. Which probably explains the similarities in the media's love affair with him and Psycho T. Racism is no laughing matter, but this is getting out of hand. I'd love to address Gary Danielson's feelings for him, but I don't think i have a sensitive enough vernacular.

As for the other "participant" in the Big XII CCG this weekend, it's probably time to quit considering yourselves a football school. In your two best years in the last quarter century, your tops wins are: 1) 12-1 Kansas 2007, 2) 9-4 Illinois 2007, 3) 9-4 Texas Tech 2007, 4) 8-5 & coachless Arkansas 2007, & 5) 8-4 Nebraska long before they were decent. Meanwhile, in your four games against OU & Texas your margin of defeat has gone: 10, 21, 25, 41 and none were that close.

To keep beating a dead tiger here, your pizza guy might want to hold onto the ball every once in a while. In his last 8 games, of which only four had two real teams competing, he had 14 interceptions. And two fumbles come immediately to mind as well. Maybe he should have declared early after all…

Texas, you got screwed. I know it, you know it, everyone with any discernable amount of common sense knows it. But now you need to prove it by obliterating the hapless Buckeyes in Tempe. It won't be enough for a split national title, but it will at least get people talking (and possibly even thinking), give you plenty of momentum heading into next year and reflect very well on our conference and very poorly on the Big 11. All of these outcomes are desirable for both you and I.

Good piece in the NY Times. I, like most, want a playoff. And while it rarely feels like any amount of injustice will get us there, if there's one thing that can do it, it's money.

To the Big XII bowl teams: win. Take a look at these match-ups below. There is a very realistic possibility of going 7-0. And honestly, I'll be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

Kansas v. Minnesota (Insight) – Absolutely no excuses here.

Missouri v. Northwestern (Alamo) – Ditto, though I'd be fine if the conference went 6-1 with a loss in San Antonio – would just be one more reason for me to love that city.

Nebraska v. Clemson (Gator) – They're coached by an adult going by the name, Dabo. I won't put this one in the bag, but it's plenty winnable.

OSU v. Oregon (Holiday) – They're from the PAC-10 and they're not USC. Need I say more?

Texas Tech v. Ole Miss (Cotton) – I don't care that they beat Florida. They also lost to Wake Forest, Vandy & South Carolina, while barely beating Arkansas. They struggled against the pass in the SEC. Anything less than 500 yards and 50 points will be a disappointment.

Texas v. Ohio State (Fiesta) – Addressed above. If you were good enough to win the MNC, this game is well under control by the end of the 3rd quarter.

Oklahoma v. Florida (MNC) – Obviously there's no shame in losing to Florida. But let's just say that you haven't exactly done is proud in the BCS lately. This would be a good time to make up for those embarrassments.

So my Meadow Soprano infatuation has returned. Thank you, Lonely Island Boys.
Amazingly, knowing that she's riding Turtle doesn't make it go away, either - quite an accomplishment on her part.

And to close, a couple quickies on Kansas basketball…

You guys will make it a lot easier on yourselves if you can find a way to make a layup or two.

Tyshawn Taylor: you are so much fun to watch and so much better than I ever could have hoped for, but please, please learn how and when to throw an entry pass.

Morris twins: we never want to see Matt Kleinmann start again, so please start trying every day in practice and every single play during games. Trust me, it's for the better.

Sherron: You're as good a guard as there is in the country and I'll forever love you for obvious reasons. You're also the unquestioned leader of this team and should lead them in shot attempts nightly, but shot selection is still something you may want to consider. Also, this team moves the ball very well – they'll get you shots too, you don't always need to get them on your own.

And lastly, just keep getting better. You guys are unbelievably tough to watch at times – mostly because of how spoiled we've been – but you're also well beyond where I thought you'd be and seem to genuinely enjoy playing with one another. Keep working at it and you'll be a tough out in March and that's all I can ask for.

Feel free to add your thoughts, regardless of whether or not they pertain to anything in this post.

Bowl Pick 'Em

2008-12-08T12:53:00.002-06:00

The folks over at Mizzourah have started a bowl pick 'em league.

Name: Big 12 Ballers
ID: 21770
Password: big12

And here is the direct link to the page. Please enter and make sure to utilize every piece of advice I offer.

Note: There will also be a link on the side of this page that will direct you to this post if you're needing this information over the next couple of weeks.

Heading to Tempe

2008-12-07T20:39:00.002-06:00

Nothing new obviously, but nice to know we now have an opponent in Tim Brewster's Minnesota Golden Gophers. Are there really golden gophers or did they just not like the thought of just being the gophers so they decided to spruce it up a little with an adjective? Either way, it should make for a fun couple of days taking in Tempe and hopefully a win at picturesque Sun Devil Stadium.

Rock Chalk!

What a great night....

2008-12-07T13:23:00.002-06:00

First a great Florida/Alabama game, then Missouri gets humbled yet again and finally, staying to watch SNL pays off....big time

Brent: "Chase Daniel drops back in the pocket, surrounded by Oklahoma defenders...and I think he just jizzed in his pants"

Kirk: "You're right Brent, I believe he started thinking about Sam Bradford and all the time he has had to pick apart the Missouri defense and spontaneously jizzed in his pants. Unfortunate timing there Brent."

A little late....

2008-12-05T18:52:00.006-06:00

but very well done. Kudos to Phog.net poster Cactii for this creation

thought you all might enjoy

Repeal Day

2008-12-05T15:00:00.007-06:00

Today marks one of the most important dates in American history. On this day in 1933 the clear thinking citizens of Utah (hard to believe) ratified the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution. This, as you know, repealed the curse of Prohibition. That began the demise of the massive crime wave that had erupted when Prohibition began. Now, U.S. citizens would focus their minds and brighten their conversations by marinating an ice cube or two. Science and literature and culture all benefited greatly. 'Tis a great day that we should all celebrate. Certainly, I intend to.

Oh ya, and a hearty 'Cheers!' to the Kansas Jayhawks, now officially in preparation for the 2008 Insight Bowl. We'll see you in Tempe.

The MVP Race

2008-12-04T20:50:00.006-06:00

Congrats to Todd for taking home KJ-IBT player of the week honors for his performance against the hated Tigers. It represents the fourth time this year he has taken home the coveted prize. For his efforts, he was also crowned this week's Big XII player of the week on offense. The Big XII player of the week on defense, Darrell Stuckey, finished a very close and deserving second here at KJ-IBT.

In light of all this player of the week discussion, this seems an opportune time to fill everyone in one where we stand heading into the bowl game. As you know, it’s 5 points for first, 4 for second, and so on…

Todd Reesing – 44 points with the aforementioned 4 first place finishes.
Dezmon Briscoe – 24 points with 3 first places finishes.
Kerry Meier – 19 points without a single week in first place – hard to believe, isn’t it?
Darrell Stuckey – 17 points with a single week in first place.
Jake Sharp – 15 points all coming from his 3 weeks in first place.
James Holt – 14 points with a week in first place.

As you likely noticed throughout the season and was reflected through the votes here, these six pretty much separated from the rest. And with the exception of Jake ranking above Holt, I think they’re pretty reflective of the season as a whole. They’ll likely change slightly in response to the bowl game, though I’d say Hot Toddy has a pretty firm grasp on the top spot. For those curious, Todd is now 19-6 as a starter with an Orange Bowl win. It's safe to say I'm looking forward to one more year with the gunslinger at the helm. To take that a step further, I’m looking forward to another year with everyone on this list with the exception of Jimmy Holt. Will 2010 be the year we finally represent the north? As of now, I’d say yes.

Your thoughts?

The Star's All Big XII Teams

2008-12-03T15:23:00.006-06:00

Were recently announced and can be found here. I have to ask - do you guys even watch these teams or is this just entirely guesswork based on whose name you have heard the most? Muckelroy, Texas' leading tackler by a mile doesn't even make second team despite being the anchor for far and away the best defense in the league? Okung doesn't make first team despite being the only guy all year to contain a healthy Orakpo and paving the way for the conference's leading rusher (by 500 yards)? Brandon Harold had a better year at DE than Gerald McCoy - really?!?

I'm sure my picks aren't perfect and plenty would disagree (though no one has as of yet), but this kind of shit is ridiculous. I really feel like it's time we require that anyone submitting votes for these teams (or especially in the polls) has to answer a few common-sensical questions that an educated watched would know. If you're wrong, you lose your vote. Perhaps then these polls and teams might reflect some semblance of coherence and understanding of what's been happening over the last 3 months. I feel like I've wasted all of your time by even dignifying this with a post. Please accept my apologies.

*UPDATE* Dave Matter released his picks toward the AP teams. And yes, they're even worse than the Star's. Unreal. Then again, he did predict a 55-28 MU win on Saturday, so...

All-League Selections: Defense

2008-12-02T15:45:00.009-06:00

If you haven't seen the new Marky M rap, now is as good a time as any to check it out. And check it out you must. Moving on, yesterday's all-conference selections generated so much buzz that I thought we better tackle the defensive side as well.

First Team

Defensive Tackle

- Roy Miller (Texas). I think Miller warrants serious consideration (though he won't get it) for defensive player of the year in the league. His push up the middle and occupying of blockers was as big a reason as any for Texas' league best defense. Stats never tell the story with these guys, yet he produced there as well, finishing with 46 tackles, 10 for a loss, 4.5 sacks and 4 pass break-ups.
- Ndamukong Suh (NU). I'm not entirely sold on the blackshirt defense, but Suh is an elite tackle and takes them to another level. Incredibly quick for his size, he led the team with 68 tackles, 15 for a loss, mixing in 5.5 sacks and 2 interceptions.

Defensive End

- Brian Orakpo (Texas). An athletic freak that was slowed by injury through the latter part of the season, Orakpo was a terror coming off the edge and in the run game. In semi-limited duty he recorded 18 tackles for loss, 10.5 of them sacks and generated 27 QB pressures and 4 forced fumbles. Whoever has to go up against him after another month of healing could be in for a long day.
- Jeremy Beal (OU). Beal was by no means a no-name coming into the year, but he'd been overshadowed by English. That was not the case this year as he racked up 49 tackles, 14 for a loss, & 8.5 sacks. He also broke up 4 passes and forced 3 fumbles.

Linebacker

- Roddrick Muckelroy (Texas). Muckelroy is in no way flashy (0 sacks), but his size and speed let him play in every direction. He benefits from Miller occupying blockers, but the gaps still have to be filled and the ball carrier to be tackled. He did both well, finishing with 106 tackles on the season, 43 more than the next closest on his league best unit.
- Joe Pawelek (Baylor). Seriously. This guy can play. The anchor on a much improved (but still struggling) Bear defense. he finished the season with 128 tackles, 6 of them for a loss. He also registered 6 interceptions, 5 QB hurries and recovered a couple of fumbles.
- Travis Lewis (OU). While not great in coverage, he remains an incredibly sure tackler and disruptive force. On the season he has 123 tackles, 10.5 for a loss, 3.5 of them sacks and 4 INTs. They still miss Reynolds more than one can imagine, but Lewis has picked up the slack to a degree.

Cornerback

- Cha'pelle Brown (Colorado). Stuck on an awful team with a worse offense, the Buffalo defense wasn't too bad this year. And their pass defense was surprisingly decent as well, with Brown leading the way. On the year he had 84 tackles and 10 pass break-ups.
- Dominique Franks (OU). I'm hesitant to put a third Sooner on this unit, let alone one from the secondary. But frankly, there just aren't any standout corners in the league, which is likely more due to the QBs than anything, but still. For the season, Franks has 32 tackles, 9 passes defended and 4 picks. Not stellar, but if you've seen many scores over the past 2 months you know why.

Safety

- Darrell Stuckey (Kansas). I'm sure I'll get crap for this one considering the KU pass defense this year, but Stuckey was not the problem. To show just how much he did for Kansas' defense, see the 94 tackles he registered from the safety spot, four of them for a loss. He also broke up 7 passes, intercepting five and forced two fumbles. His unit had its issues, but they'd have been magnified without Stuckey around.
- Darcel McBath (Tech). I might be a little biased from that third quarter in Lawrence, but that proof is in the pudding. McBath has 70 tackles on the season, 7 passes defended and 6 interceptions.

Second Team

DT: Gerald McCoy (OU) & Colby Whitlock (Tech). Both should garner some first team mention, but I think fall well short of Miller and slightly behind Suh.

DE: Stryker Sulak (MU) & Brandon Williams (Tech). Here I think there's a pretty clear bridge to cross. Both had great season's combining for 19.5 sacks and 9 passes defended, but both Orakpo and Beal really separated from the pack here. McKinner Dixon deserves some consideration as well.

LB: Brian Duncan (Tech), Sean Weatherspoon (MU) and James Holt (Kansas). Next in line would be Kindle who Muschamp used extremely well as a blitzing backer this year. But Duncan was as big a part of tech's defensive improvement as anyone, Weatherspoon has 126 tackles and Holt does a little bit of everything (97 tackles, 15.5 for loss, 7 sacks, & 6 forced fumbles).

S: Lendy Holmes (OU) & Earl Thomas (Texas). I also think Lake deserves some recognition, but I didn't quite see him enough to understand what he meant to Baylor's unit. And while these two have both been exposed plenty, they've both had great years considering the league and may well get first team recognition. Holmes has 72 tackles and 4 INTs while Thomas has 63 tackles and 15 passes defended, 2 of them INTs.

CB: Ryan Palmer (Texas) & Joshua Moore (KSU). These may be my most questionable picks of all. Palmer may not be the best corner on his own team (though I think he's the most consistent) and Moore played on the worst defense in the conference. But as mentioned, we really have to take some of what we've seen with a grain of salt considering the offenses they go against. And Palmer finished the year with a respectable 30 tackles, 3 sacks, 7 passes defended and 3 INTs. And frankly, Moore had the best season of anyone statistically with 76 tackles, 5 for a loss and 15 passes defended, 3 of them interceptions.

As always, please disagree as much as possible because I'm sure I overlooked and/or overrated someone. *UPDATE* The coaches selections were released today. And after seeing them, I feel a lot better about the teams I put together (see: Jorvorskie Lane and his 35 carries for 95 yards and 5 TDs on the second team). I understand why coaches make lazy selections (this is the last thing on their mind), but I'll be interested to see how similarly lazy the media is with their vote. Also, how crazy is it that Todd Reesing doesn't even get honorable mention when in every conference but the SEC (Tebow) and possibly the Big East (White) he'd likely be the first team pick? The same could likely be argued for Robinson and Ganz.

Big XII RoundUp: Offensive All-League Selections

2008-12-01T13:47:00.007-06:00

Well, as seemed my destiny all year long I of course finished the Big XII slate as mediocre as one can be, going 24-24 ATS and 38-10 TGS by going 3-2 and 5-0 this week. A disappointing year, though there's a glimmer of hope at the end. With 7 Big XII teams heading to bowls across the country, I'll be forced to end the year strayed from my .500 mark, unless of course I intend to make a pick on the CCG which I'm still undecided on given the circumstances surrounding its participants. What I want to do today is attempt to make my all-league selections before the media comes out with theirs and makes Ian Campbell a first team selection because he racked up some sacks his sophomore year.

First Team Offense

QB – Colt McCoy (Texas). Though Bradford has been great, this one seems pretty clear to me. Bradford sits in the pocket and hits open receivers in stride seemingly throughout the entire game. Obviously this isn't easy and he should be praised for it, but Colt does more with less, keeps plays going with his legs and (though this is discounted by some) he beat Bradford in a head-to-head game. For the stat crazed he's thrown for 3,445 yards (5th), completed 78% of his passes (holy schnikees), thrown for 32 TDs against 7 INTs and run for an additional 576 yards and 10 TDs.

RB – Kendall Hunter (OSU). Again, this one is pretty cut and dry. He's the leading rusher by over 500 yards (1,518) and was as big a part of the Cowboys impressive season as anyone.

WR – Dez Bryant (OSU). I want to punish him for not coming to play in road game, but he's the leading receiver (1,313) by over 100 yards and tied with Crabtree for TDs (18) which is 6 more than anyone else. Plus he had two punt return TDs, which let him lead the league in scoring.

WR – Michael Crabtree (Tech). Led the league in receptions (93) and tied for TDs (18) while being fourth in yards (1,135). That last second play against Texas didn't hurt him any either.

WR – Dezmon Briscoe (Kansas). He is second in receiving yards (1,206), tied for third in TDs (12) behind Crabtree & Bryant, and notched 78 receptions for 15.5 yards per catch. Even more than that, he came to play against the best with a combined 44 catches for 730 yards and 5 TDs against OU, Tech, NU, Texas and MU for an average game of 9/146/1 against the five best teams we played.

WR – Jeremy Maclin (MU). I'm sure no one else will discount the TE, but I chose to do so. Gresham would probably be the choice there, but with 50 catches and 12 TDs (and no real blocking ability) he's really a receiver anyway. And by receiver standards, Maclin blows him away. Add in that most teams in this league go 4-wide most of the time and I think this makes sense at any rate. As for his stats, he had 88 catches (2nd) for 1,175 yards (3rd) and 11 TDs (t-5th). He also had two rushing TDs and returned a kickoff.

I want to preface my line selections by saying that I'm not necessarily selecting the best five offensive linemen, but rather who I found to be the best at each particular position. I welcome any disagreements (with reasoning), because I think it's pretty tough to evaluate an o-line properly without seeing every game (which I obviously did not).

LT – Russell Okung (OSU). Scouts/GMs that watched how he played Orakpo should be ready to give him a pretty hefty paycheck. Add in that he blocked for the leading rusher in the league and I think he's deserving.

LG – Duke Robinson (OU). Downfield blocking is not his strength, but that's about the only issue I've seen with him. Pass blocking is clearly his forte, but the holes the OU running backs have had the last two weeks were obscene.

C – Jon Cooper (OU). I'd just say ditto Robinson, but that wouldn't be doing him justice as he's far and away the best center in the league from what I've seen. Good feet, great hands (you're not going to start for OU if you can't grab a hold of someone) and an even better sense what he and the rest of his line are trying to accomplish with each play. Is great on his own, but even better in combo blocks with his guards (no easy task).

RG – Cedric Dockery (Texas). I'm a little hesitant to place any of Texas' o-line here after the way they were dominated by Tech and with how little running room they typically provided – though I'd blame the latter on the unbelievably limited playbook selection of: zone read & QB draw. With all that said, Dockery is extremely mobile for his size and can pull as well as anyone in the league, while also holding his ground in pass protection on most occasions.

RT – Marlon Winn (Tech). Rylan Reed garnered a little more attention, as left tackles tend to do. But Tech's strong side was on the right behind Winn and Carter (that silly guy with all the makeup). A true monster (6'6", 325), Winn excels in pass protection and really developed as a great run blocker as well, which played as big a part in Tech's improvement as anything.

Second Team Offense

QB – Sam Bradford (OU). As mentioned above, he deserves plenty of attention for first team honors and he's the clear choice for second team despite throwing for 700 less yards (in 175 less attempts) and having a lower completion percentage than Graham Harrell. Stats with two games to play: 4,080 yards on 68% completion, 46 TDs and 6 INTs. That's absurd, especially on a team whose two leading rushers combine for 1,990 yards and 31 TDs on the ground.

RB – DeMarco Murray (OU). On paper there's not a good reason that he's here instead of teammate Chris Brown, so I'll just highlight them both. Their yards (1,002 & 988), ypc (5.6 & 5.9) and touchdowns (14 & 17) are nearly identical with Brown slightly leading the last two and Murray with the slight edge in yards. It's no wonder that offense has scored 60+ four straight times.

WR – Jordan Shipley (Texas). I'm still not sure how I left him off my first team and it really speaks to the guys in this conference that I was able to. Great as he's been, the numbers just didn't quite support it with 79 catches (t-4th), 982 yards (6th) and 11 TDs (t-5th). He also had both a kick and punt return at huge times in big games.

WR – Quan Cosby (Texas). Frankly, I was a little surprised when I checked his final stats. He's been great all year, but I expected him to be a second teamer. Turns out, his stats are nearly identical to Shipley's with 78 catches for 952 yards and 8 scores. It's just crazy that those numbers won't really even merit first team consideration.

TE – Jermaine Gresham (OU). He'll likely be a first-team guy here, but since he's out their as a pass catcher, that's how I'm rating him. And to be honest, I'm probably overrating him a tad as 50 catches for 806 yards doesn't really stand out in this league. The 12 TDs (tied for 3rd) helps quite a bit though.

TE – Chase Coffman (MU). Again, he's listed as a TE, which is fine, but when you’re lined up wide more often than you're blocking, you are a receiver in my book. Injuries slowed him a bit, but among a slew of fantastic plays he had 79 grabs for 872 yards and 9 scores.

Apologies to: Kerry Meier (87-932-7), Brandon Banks (67-1049-9), Juaquin Iglesias (60-967-8) & Nate Swift (60-909-9). In any other league, you're all probably up for first team recognition.

And that's where I'll stop. I had enough trouble coming up with my first team line to try and discern a second team. It's no wonder the lazy media just scribble down the 5 names they've heard the most. As always, any disagreements, additions, subtractions, random shout outs, etc. are welcomed.

Missouri React

2008-11-30T11:35:00.010-06:00

Well, that was euphoric. Like I said yesterday, that really had to be the best game I have ever attended. Great offense. Opportunistic defense. Not sloppy at all (6 total penalties). All in all, just two teams laying it in the line in a rivalry game. In reality, these two offenses are so filled with playmakers, it was likely going to come down to who had the ball last. For all intents and purposes, that was us, and I couldn’t be happier for it.

Offensive MVP was: Todd Reesing. You just can’t say enough about the job he did yesterday. And now knowing that he couldn’t lift his right arm a week ago, I’m even more impressed. His pocket presence is uncanny, his determination is relentless and his confidence is infectious. Let’s just say I’m pretty ecstatic about him returning alongside Dez Briscoe and Kerry Meier for one more year.

Defensive MVP was: Darrell Stuckey. And calling this one a no-brainer doesn’t do it justice. Two interceptions and forcing & recovering Booger’s fumble – simply incredible. I said we needed to force the issue and Stuckey was a bigger part of that than anyone else. Hats off to Clint and the entire defense for generally doing a good job on a great offense (especially confusing them early), but Stuckey was without a doubt the catalyst of it all.

Note: We won’t be selecting LVP’s this week, because candidly, this was an entire team effort in every sense of the phrase. There were mistakes on both sides, sure, but to point a least valuable finger would not be doing justice to the overall effort and execution put forth by everyone.

Unsung heroes include: Alonso Rojas, Jacob Branstetter, James Holt, Jake Sharp and the entire offensive line. Rojas’ punting helped contain the unreal talent that is Maclin and led to the safety. Branstetter’s kickoffs were actually pretty shitty, but he tackled Maclin twice, made his only FG attempt and drilled home all 5 PATs. Holt only registered 6 tackles, one of which was a six yard sack, but what didn’t show up statistically was the emphasis (and overall good job) their o-line put on him, but also the push he provided forcing Booger to move in the pocket a little more than he likes. Jake's 20 carries for 48 yards and a TD was nothing great, but making Eberflus account for him, especially on the outside spread out the field for everyone else. To carry 20 times in that game with broken ribs is nothing short of incredible. While the o-line struggled to consistently make holes for Jake, they generally did a great job forming a pocket for Todd. Sulak got to him twice and Todd obviously did some scrambling, but all in all, the pocket was there all day.

The special teams: were as much to credit as anything for the win. You simply can’t underestimate the effect Briscoe’s returns had on the offense. Field position has been an issue for us all year and yesterday it was not. Just as importantly, we never let Maclin break free and credit there goes to Rojas and both coverage teams as they were solid all day. We turned what was a decided disadvantage going in, into an advantage that played a big part in us coming out with a win.

Congrats to: Missouri. For earning a second straight co-championship of the Big XII north. And to Nebraska for fighting back to share it with them after that embarrassing loss early. I get the sense that these two teams, along with Kansas, may be the only three in contention in the near future.

Thanks: to Gary Pinkel. For not using a time out after the completion to Perry, resulting in a loss of two important seconds and not letting them run an extra play to get it closer than the 36. Also, thanks for running Alexander on an out route even though you still had 2 timeouts and we were pretty much conceding the middle of the field. We knew you still had it in you. Much appreciated.

The uniform battle: was another win for Kansas. I've been asking for white on white for a while and I was not disappointed. Very cool. As for the golds they brought out - what were they thinking? The front was bright, while 3/4 of the back were darker and both were a different shade than the gold on their helmet. It really is a shame they didn't bring out the gold pants too, but it was hideous all the same. And yet I'm not surprised in the least bit.

Fear factor: can’t really be determined without an opponent. But operating under the assumption that we’ll head to the Insight Bowl and be paired with the sixth selection from the Big 11, I feel pretty confident. A quick glance at the standings has Wisconsin occupying that spot, so that’s my best guess. And since there are exactly two teams in the entire conference that I’m not sure we would beat, I’m pretty confident as of now. Obviously much more on this later.

Going into next month I feel: ecstatic. Look, any idiot that understands football realizes that even a 6-6 season would not have invalidated what happened a year ago. We lost four draft picks and a couple other all-conference selections. We were going to drop off. And while it’s being written off as a product of the schedule change – which is obvious – everyone seems to be forgetting that while those three teams are all top 5 caliber this year, they all had three losses a year ago, with five of those nine coming to unranked teams. But with all of that said, this loss saved our season. On a national level it saved us from a perception standpoint. And on a local level, it saved us on an interest standpoint. Disappointing as it is, there are still a lot of fair-weather fans with this newfound football success and to beat Missouri, especially in that fashion, a lot of them will come crawling back. But most important of all, it does a lot for the program. Now a winning season is guaranteed and with a win in the bowl game this becomes an 8-5 season. Eight wins with one of the toughest schedules in the country shows that you’re building a program of continuity. While not as flashy as 12-1 and Orange Bowl champions, that is just as important if we’re interested in any sort of prolonged success. Which we are.

Rock Chalk!

I've seen a lot of things in my life...

2008-11-29T18:19:00.004-06:00

But that was...AWESOME!! Obviously much more to come on this later, but that really had to be about the best game I've ever attended. Just incredibly well played by both teams with an unbelievable 4 TDs in the last 7 minutes. And obviously good triumphing over evil is always a bonus. Talk amongst yourselves...

Rock Chalk!