Random Thoughts: National Championship postgame

1. This year’s KU team couldn’t have beaten Illinois or UNC.
2. It is mind boggling how much better these teams were than KU from 3-pt land. I believe Galindo was our third highest three point shooter, making 17, this year. I think UNC and Illinois have about 10 players combined that could make that many 3’s in their sleep.
3. It sure would be nice to have a team that had 5 players on the court at the same time that are capable of scoring.
4. It’s a lot of fun to watch transition basketball. It strikes me as the exact opposite of what KU fans watched for much of the season.
5. Both of these teams played like TEAMS are supposed to play. They knew where each other was supposed to be…they passed the ball…they played unselfishly…and they had a will to win. I think either team beats this year’s KU team handily.
6. I would have loved to see Simien go toe-to-toe with May.
7. Billy pACCker was the reason the MUTE button was invented.
8. Did the officials treat Sean May with kid gloves tonight or what?
9. Amazing that Jim Burr and Ed Hightower weren’t calling the game. Rumor has it they were at an undisclosed location calling fouls on KU.
10. I’m glad Roy got his championship, even if it was at the wrong school. He’s put in a lot of effort over a lot of years to get to the top of the mountain. It’s just too bad he had to step on a few people’s heads to get there.
11. James Augustine got screwed tonight. 5 fouls in 9 minutes? That was a huge factor in this game.
12. This win is going to make it even harder for Kansas to recruit high school athletes over UNC. UNC has the championship…and they are a Nike school….both of those things matter to young high school kids.

Clarifying my thoughts on Roy

I’m not upset about Roy the person being gone....I’m over that part of it…...I’m upset that his decision to leave left us with a team of seniors that lost in the first round to Bucknell….and that likely wouldn’t have happened if Roy was still the coach at KU (because of continuity…not meant as a slight to Self). I’m thrilled to have Bill Self as our coach…Kansas fans will get the last laugh…and likely a championship or three….because of that.

But if you can honestly say you don’t care whether Roy wins or loses tonight, then I’m calling bullsh*t. You don’t follow a man…and a program….like all of us do for 15 years…..and then see players that we all really care about suffer a pathetic first round loss….and not hope that their former coach loses his a$$ on national television again….especially with the group of players that got Matt Doherty booted because he was too tough on them.

Again…let Roy win one….I think it would be good for all of his years and efforts….just not THIS year. Not while Simien, Langford, Miles and Lee have to watch the UNC whiners celebrating at midcourt…celebrating the championship that never would have been if Roy was a man of his word to KU’s four seniors.

What will make this Jayhawk fan happy?

The only thing that would make me happy at this point in the college basketball season is to see players Bill Self recruited celebrating their school’s first-ever National Championship, while Roy, the UNC players that Matt Doherty recruited who in return thanked him by getting him fired, and the arrogant Carolina administration and their fans cry about an opportunity lost.

Oh, and Wayne Simien being voted Player of the Year would be nice too….but we know that since the AP chose Utah's Andrew Bogut, it’s likely that he will get it, even though he had a quality season against inferior competition and Wayne had a tremendous season against the #1 schedule in the country (just take a look at all of the success that KU opponents had this year….South Carolina and St. Joes in the NIT final, Wisconsin-Milwaukee making a run in the tourney, the Big 12 with six teams in the tourney, etc, etc)

If there is a higher power out there that cares about college basketball, we will all go to bed on Monday night with a subdued smile on our face, Roy will be crying and will still be the most successful active coach without a championship, UNC will lose 3-4 players to the NBA, Bill Self will know he recruited the type of players that could get close the deal, and Wayne Simien will be the Naismith Player of the Year.

Mic's Truth About Roy

I think the truth will come out years from now…after Roy has retired….he’ll tell the story about why he had to leave…and KU fans will feel sorry for him and appreciate his motivations…and wonder why he didn’t just come out and say that in the first place….the reason, of course, is because he wanted UNC faithful to think he was coming there because of the almighty draw that is UNC…uh, no..that’s why he turned it down the first time….there were reasons he HAD to take it the second time it was offered….family illness and Dean putting pressure on him to save UNC basketball being the two biggest reasons….so he did it out of obligation to his own personal family and to the guy who was like a father to him (and Dean was wrong in putting Roy in the situation, by the way)….

But Roy will NEVER get over the fact that he lied to his players and let them down…and that their senior year ended in a first round loss to Bucknell. Part of that loss is on Roy..and he will never forgive himself for that.

I want Roy to win a championship…after Self does….and not this year while the seniors he betrayed are sitting at home watching THEIR championship go to a bunch of malcontents at UNC. Roy left them behind…and took TWO championship runs away from them.

He will FOREVER feel guilt…regardless if players “forgive” him for what he did….

He may be Carolina born and Carolina bread….but he is a Jayhawk in his heart….and he will never come to terms with the fact that he let so many people down by going against what his heart and mind told him to do…and that was to stay at Kansas.

He wasn't true to himself...and he wasn't true to Jayhawk nation...and that is why he is constantly trying to "make amends" with Jayhawk fans and players because the scarlet letter he bears on his chest says UNC...and he is ashamed for what he did to his Jayhawk family.