My take on Mike Anderson, MU

On Mike Anderson....

I like him.

He's a good guy.

He's a quiet guy.

He doesn't draw attention to himself, positively or negatively.

He does his job and he does it well.

He isn't arrogant.

He doesn't have red-headed step child disease.

He doesn't feel like he or his team are constantly getting screwed.

He seems ethical and moral.

In other words, he doesn't fit the typical MU mold which is why they were VERY slow to accept him or even care about him or his basketball team. I think the Paige was only sold out for the last 5 or 6 games of the year....and this was THE BEST SEASON IN THEIR HISTORY.

One can only hope that Mike Anderson raises the game of the average ignorant Missouri fan and illustrates to them what it means to be professional, what it means to have class, what it means to "act like you've been there before", and to not get caught up in obsessing over the younger, hotter, sexier team across the border.

Hey, a guy can dream, right?

From the Sweet 16 to Spring Football Practice

As we look at this year's Sweet 16 Kansas Jayhawk team, I think we were all thrilled with how the season played out with the team winning the Big 12, Cole and Sherron on the All Big 12 team, Sherron as a 2nd team All American, and Bill Self as the National Coach of the year. It was frustrating to lose to Michigan State when we were up by as many as 13 and up 5 with 3 minutes to go. We had the game in our hands and Sherron had used up all of his playmaking ability in this tournament. It definitely was sad and frustrating to see the rest of the team fail for the 3rd time in the tournament to rally around Sherron and Cole. It really highlighted, if we're honest with ourselves, just how young this team was and how we had a couple of guys (Morningstar and Reed) that are, at best, 12-15 minutes a game type guys that were asked to do a lot more because of Mario Little's injury and lack of development as the season wore on. Our young guys pretty much hit a wall and never really were able to take it to that next level, however they got tremendous experience this year that bodes very well for next year and following years. With, in my estimation, both Sherron and Cole coming back, and a recruiting class that includes 7-footer Jeff Withey (transfer from Arizona), guard Elijah Johnson, 6'8 stud Thomas Robinson and very likely soon to be announced big-time player Lance Stephenson, the future looks very bright for another National Championship-caliber team next year.

Now it's time to focus our attention to Spring Football practice and what looks to be a very promising year for the gridiron version of the Jayhawks.

Keep Rockin and Chalkin,

Mic

My concerns going into the NCAA Tournament

Our players are pissed right now. Self is pissed right now. They are going to be practicing their asses off the next couple of days. Their pride is hurt. They are embarrassed. They are humiliated.

All of those things bode well for KU and don't bode well for our opponent in the first round of the NCAAs, which is why I'm not worried about THAT game.

But what I am worried about is our SECOND game.

The same scenario played out when KU got humiliated in Lubbock, bounced back against Texas, and then got comfortable/cocky and got their asses handed to them by Baylor.

So will this team learn from their mistakes or make the same mistakes again? The answer to that question will be the difference between a 2nd round loss and a run to the Sweet 16 or possibly beyond.

All that aside, I can't believe how flat KU came out yesterday and I think, based on the quotes I've read, that Bill Self is absolutely disgusted with the lack of effort/energy his team played with yesterday, especially defensively.

I get that these guys were thinking they were better than they were...and then Texas Tech bitchslapped them. But their memories must be pretty short to put up such a pathetic effort just a week after that debacle.

I would attribute a large portion of that to youth, but Sherron and Cole definitely have to shoulder the blame too. I've been somewhat down on Cole for awhile in that, when Sherron struggles, Cole doesn't take over. He needs to DEMAND the ball and not just say after the game "our guards just have to work to get the ball inside". Quit being so nice, Cole. Get pissed off. DEMAND the ball and take some pressure off of Sherron. If you don't, your season is going to come to an end sooner rather than later.