KU-OSU Thoughts

Click the title "KU-OSU Thoughts" to see some pictures from my last couple of days at the Big 12 Tournament.

And here are my thoughts on today’s game:

*It was a helluva basketball game. Definitely had the feeling of two heavyweights going at it punch for punch.
*A great effort by KU today, without Keith. To have a shot to tie at the buzzer…and get a good look…was a tribute to the entire team. They left it all out on the floor today.
*With Keith, we are the better team out of the two. Without Keith, we are equal to OSU.
*Kemper Arena got LOUD on a few occasions. It was a great college basketball atmosphere.
*The food and bathrooms at Kemper still suck.
*Kudos to Bill Self for going with a 3-point shooting lineup, which allowed KU to climb back into the game after two threes from J.R., one from Jeff Hawkins and one from Alex Galindo. I loved this lineup.*Shame on Bill Self for abandoning that 3-point shooting lineup after it got KU, and the KU fan base, back in the game.
*Wayne Simien should be the Player of the Year. After his last three games, there is no question about that. And today he has 30 points, 7 rebounds, and only 1 foul and 1 turnover. This team can go far if they keep going to Wayne. He is ready to take this team on his shoulders for a deep tournament run. OSU had NO ANSWER for him today. He was a man among boys.
*Why did we not continue to go to JR when it was clear he had the hot hand and was feeling it? He could have really helped blow that game wide open.
*Excellent job by KU today as they had only 11 turnovers. Unfortunately, OSU only had 5, which is really remarkable when you think about it.
*I like how we shared the ball. 23 assists on 31 field goals.
*We went through a 6-7 minute lull where we forgot to get the ball to Wayne. Again, there is NO REASON he shouldn’t touch the ball on every offensive possession.
*Russell Robinson played some MAD defense today.
*CJ Giles should be starting…and get more playing time…than Christian Moody. We have ridden Moody far enough, but he has become a serious liability, particularly offensively, for this team. The right answer is definitely to start CJ Giles. He brings an energy and enthusiasm that Moody simply doesn’t have. And CJ’s upside is far more than Moody’s. Oh yeah, and CJ had THREE blocks today.
*I think it is ridiculous that KU had 10 free throw attempts to OSU’s 24. Think that makes a difference in a 3-point game? And OSU’s Joey Graham had as many made free throws (10) as KU had free throw attempts. Operators are standing by…just call 1-800-BULLSH*T. There is no question that a huge disparity like that pretty much decided the game.
*I think it is ridiculous that Joey Graham had three fouls in the first half and NONE in the second half. And it was doubly ridiculous that apparently he has carte blanche when it comes to dipping his shoulder and driving into his defender.
*I think it’s even more ridiculous that Bill Self and his staff didn’t make it a point to get that fourth foul on Joey Graham. We barely went after him.
*Kudos for Alex Galindo to have the cajones to take that last shot to go for the tie….and for Self to trust him. It was a well executed play. It just didn’t fall this time.
*Fran Fraschilla could very easily be confused with Froto.
*I saw Coach Jankovich today. He was wearing a Carolina blue tie. I yelled out, “Hey Coach Jank. That’s the wrong color blue.” To which he responded “That’s the only one I had.”. Well, get a new one, Coach. NEVER where that color of blue.
*Wayne, Miles, and Lee were WARRIORS today. They gave it everything they had.
*I do take a lot of consolation in the fact that KU has had more success in the NCAA tournament when not playing on Sunday in the forever meaningless Big 12 Conference Tournament.
*I really wish Miles would have stepped it up offensively today, though I do think he was exhausted from the tremendous defense he was playing. And he deserves major props for dishing out 11 assists.
*So much for Darnell Jackson “getting it”. He played 2 minutes.
*And Sasha Kaun must definitely not “get it” as he played ZERO minutes.
*Has JR busted out of his slump? Hopefully so…nice job going 3-of-5 from deep today.
*While I am beyond impressed by the way other players rose to the occasion in Keith’s absence, it has me wondering why they don’t consistently step up more often. Mike Lee, for example, has played AWESOME the last two games. Ditto for Jeff Hawkins. What changed? I hope we see more of this stepping up the rest of the way, regardless of who is healthy and who isn’t.
*A question: Texas Tech has this hand signal that looks like they are holding guns up. And OSU does the same. Who has a patent on it?
*OSU did a fine job of taking care of the ball on the offensive end. That was a big key to KU’s inability to get over the hump in the second half.

On to the NCAAs…