Friday, May 26, 2006

Too Good to be True?

A series of events has transpired since the end of the season, all seemingly designed (perhaps intelligently designed?) to increase KU's profile going into next year. Most obviously, there were decisions by Brandon Rush and fellow sophomores-to-be not even to test the NBA waters. There was the miraculous deus-ex-machina decision by Darrell Arthur to become a Jayhawk after all.

Meanwhile, every other powerhouse team except UNC and Florida has seen major defections to the Association, leaving KU right at the top of the preseason standings with those two.

Almost every other team in the Big 12 has been decimated through coaching changes, transfers, and again, NBA defections, leaving us as the undisputed Big 12 pre-season favorite (don't sleep on A&M, however).

My favorite writer -- "to poop on," as Triumph the Dog would say -- the LJW's Keegan, argues that our schedule next season, which includes an early matchup against Florida (yes!) but not much else of substance, allows for the possibility of "running the table" for the first time since Indiana did it in '75.

This isn't as crazy as it might sound; as Keegan points out, we won't have to travel to Austin, Stillwater, or College Station next year, and those are the three teams most likely to challenge us in the conference.

But here's the rub: even if we win every game in the conference, a distinct possibility, will we be battle-tested enough for the Big Dance?

And as a postscript, it's time to give the people what they want:

The Atrocious Keegan Quote of the Week:

"Indiana ran the table in 1975-76 in part because no team was able to answer this question: What’s the best way to beat Indiana?"

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

NBA Action: It's ... Fantastic?

I know we've been ignoring a lot of Big 12 news in the last couple of weeks with posts about the NBA and prime-time legal dramas; we'll try to get back on track this week.

But first, since we've had some good NBA vs. NCAA arguments on this site, I think it should be noted that the NBA playoffs this year have been absolutely mind-blowing. At least nine games have gone into overtime, which is a record (I think last night makes ten); we've had three Game 7s in three nights; two series in which a team has come back from down 3-1 to tie and/or win; great performances from a host of stars including but not limited to Wade, Nowitzki, Nash, Lebron, Duncan, Kobe, Arenas, and Vince; and only about three uncompetitive series out of 12 total.


The Mavs-Spurs epic, which finally ended in overtime of Game 7 last night, is being hailed as one of the best playoff series ever. The Spurs came from 3-1 down, then came all the way back from 20 down last night before faltering in the extra inning.

As a Spurs partisan, I'm of course crushed this morning, but proud that they took it to the limit. And if they were going to lose, I'm glad it was to the Mavs, who were my first NBA love back in the '80s and who are coached by Avery Johnson, my favorite Spur from the '90s. Other than Mark Cuban, who can go to hell, they are a classy team and could give the Pistons fits.

The Spurs, by the way, are not necesarily done winning titles. Duncan is still only 30 or 31; Ginobili and Parker are still in their 20s. It's the supporting cast that's too old. They need to sign some younger energy guys in the offseason and they'll be OK.

In any case, the NBA playoffs this year could actually turn out to be more exciting than the NCAAs for once if these trends continue. There should be plenty of drama in the semifinals, and a Pistons-Mavs final could go another seven.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Goodbye, Annie

So Law & Order killed off Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Borgia (Annie Parisse) last week.

She was one of my favorite assistants - she actually looked like a New York lawyer to me. Hyper, sleep deprived, intellectually curious. I don't know that they gave her much of a character, but she was a huge step up from Elizabeth "did you fire me because I'm a lesbian?" Rohm.



I'd love to see Jesse L. Martin disappear (Michael Imperioli needs a regular gig now), but the real problem is Sam Watterston's Jack McCoy. He had a good run, and for a while I liked him better than Michael Moriarty's Ben Stone. I've since switched allegiances, mostly as McCoy's throat wobbling self righteousness has grown increasingly stale. Stone was a more internal creature, harder to read, but ultimately more interesting.

And, of course, no one has been able to step into the shoes of Stephen Hill's Adam Schiff. Please make Fred Thompson's Arthur Branch a lesbian and replace him with Yaphet Kotto. Or maybe Roy Scheider.



Dennis Farina, while mildly disapointing, cuts the right figure and could flourish - epecially if paired with Imperioli.

So, should McCoy be replaced? Who should take his place?

Alan Alda? Peter Coyote? Mark Harmon? David Morse?

Too Bad: We Didn't Eat our Wheaties
Wayne, You're My Only Hope

As of Sunday, when the Pistons beat the Cavs 79-61, KU is nearly out of the NBA playoffs. Drew Gooden, a player I've always liked, ended his season with this less-than-stellar line: 17 and a half minutes, 0-4 from the field, five rebounds, three turnovers, 2-2 from the free throw line.


Wayne--it's all you, baby. The last time we've seen the man dubbed Big Dub out here in KS was in the Heat's game two, 111-89 victory over New Jersey. Wayne played nearly five minutes (guess when); his line, you ask? 0-1 from the field, 1 rebound, 1 turnover. Not much to hang a hat on, but I'm going to go ahead and hope that Miami is able to get at least one blowout win over Detroit (game one is tomorrow) so that I might see Mr Simien get enough PT to score a couple of points. . . .

Want to see more photos of Wayne helping kids learn to swim? Gallery here, courtesy of nba.com.

Monday, May 15, 2006

LeBron is KING!!!


Quote:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Deron Lee
Not that anyone cares, but while it's in the news I want to get a few things off my chest about the MVP thing.

First, Steve Nash deserved the award even had Phoenix gone down in flames to Kobe and the Lakers. The award has always gone to the player who had the biggest numbers while also leading his team to the top of the standings. While the numbers for Kobe and Lebron were gaudier than Nash's (at least in terms of scoring) they led their teams to decent, not great regular seasons.

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So...Nash's team finshed 3rd in the standings and Lebron's team finished 4th? So Nash's team had a "great" regular season, while Lebron's was "decent"? It's not like we are talking about the split from 5 years ago where the West was 5 seeds better than the east either. Lots of West teams were down this year that used to be powers.This point of comparison should not be enough to offset the dramatic differences in statistics.
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Deron Lee
Nash may have a better supporting cast than those guys, but think about it--had you ever heard of Boris Diaw or Leandro Barbosa before they started playing with Nash? Had Tim Thomas ever accomplished anything in his career before joining the Suns? Would you have expected the Suns to have the 4th-best record in the league with Amare Stoudemire out for the whole season?
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No I had not heard of those guys. But I don't think you would nominate LeBron's supporting cast for All-NBA honors. I mean, we all love Drew Gooden, but he and Larry Hughes hadn't exactly found their niche either.
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Deron Lee
Kobe had a monster year, but did he make his teammates better? It doesn't appear so. If anything, the opposite may have been the case.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I notice here that you did not try to make this point about LeBron, because obviously it would not apply. LeBron has upped Drew, and the Big Z's game quite a bit.

Finally,


Steve Nash 18.8 PPG 4.2 RPG 10.2 APG .77 SPG BPG .15 3.49 TO PG

Lebron James 31.4 PPG 7.0 RPG 6.6 APG 1.6 SPG BPG .84 3.34 TO PG

I believe I would take the latter stat line every time. Plus, Lebron shot an un-Iversonesque 48% from the field.

Only two other men have put up 25, 7, and 7 since 1980 - Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. Not to mention that he can actually body up someone and play D, unlike a certain Rock-hairdoed Canadian.

Let the Building Do the Work


What a great recruiting tool--a U17 tournament in Allen Fieldhouse. The winning team (K.C. Pump N Run) featured scout.com's #3 ranked player in the class of '08, Travis Releford (pictured). KU's working on attracting him (the 6'5" player scored 10 points in the championship game, hitting 3 of his four FGA's), and he told kusports.com that playing in Lawrence was attractive: “I like the lights and the fans,” Releford said. “There’s a whole lot of people giving me hype.”

A couple of other guards KU's after were in the game as well, Conner Teahan and Tyrel Reed. The two were a combined 6 of 14 from 3, scoring a combined 35 points. (For a breakdown by player, see the story at kusports.com).

On his resemblance to a distinguished KU alum, Reed had this to say: "People compare me to Kirk Hinrich just because of my looks, my style of play a little bit," Reed said. "It's a good comparison, I think." (Story here.)
A bit over the top, perhaps, but he's an in-state prospect (Burlington, KS), and he's made scout.com's top 100 for the class of '07, so it seems like a good fit for Allen. Roy, of course, wants him at Carolina (he's visited Reed three times already), perhaps confirming the Hinrich resemblance. . . .


Last but not least, Cole Aldrich reaffirmed his devotion to the Crimson and Blue: "Home, sweet home, that's all I've got to say," he told the Journal-World. With an injured foot, he was held to four points on Friday, and ended up in the hospital Saturday after an elbow to the ribs. Despite all of that, the 6-11, #1 ranked center (according to scout.com, at least), remains enthusiastic about KU.

No doubt about it--Coach Self knows how to recruit.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Thy Will Be Done


As we have long suspected, God favors the Jayhawks.

After it appeared yesterday that forward Darrell Arthur was going to bypass KU in favor of Baylor (a school which goes to extremes to curry favor with the Almighty), Darrell has experienced an overnight conversion.

According to the LJW, Darrell said he "prayed on it hard last night," and then had a dream of himself suited up in the crimson and blue. By morning, his decision was made. When asked if his change of heart was the result of divine intervention, he said, "I think it was."

Just as He once reportedly appeared to another Arthur--King Arthur--God (pictured) apparently felt He simply had to intervene in the college recruitment process.

A few other items of interest from the Dallas Morning News:

Arthur said if he had made the announcement as scheduled on Monday, he would have picked Baylor. (What unseen force could have compelled him to put it off a day? Hmm.)

Arthur said he would stay in college "as long as it takes," but he would prefer to spend "one or two" seasons in Lawrence before turning pro.

Darrell Arthur a Jayhawk!!!

Just heard this on the radio.

Take that LSU hurricane victims.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Hardwood Hardware

Not that anyone cares, but while it's in the news I want to get a few things off my chest about the MVP thing.

First, Steve Nash deserved the award even had Phoenix gone down in flames to Kobe and the Lakers. The award has always gone to the player who had the biggest numbers while also leading his team to the top of the standings. While the numbers for Kobe and Lebron were gaudier than Nash's (at least in terms of scoring) they led their teams to decent, not great regular seasons.

Nash may have a better supporting cast than those guys, but think about it--had you ever heard of Boris Diaw or Leandro Barbosa before they started playing with Nash? Had Tim Thomas ever accomplished anything in his career before joining the Suns? Would you have expected the Suns to have the 4th-best record in the league with Amare Stoudemire out for the whole season?

Dirk Nowitzki also would have been a good choice, since his team did even better than Phoenix, but they didn't have the personnel issues Nash had to deal with. As for the Pistons and Spurs, they both thrived through team effort, not individual performances (Duncan's numbers were down this year due to injury).

Kobe had a monster year, but did he make his teammates better? It doesn't appear so. If anything, the opposite may have been the case.

One more note on this subject: since there's a regular season MVP and a Finals MVP, why is there no playoffs MVP? The NCAAs have their All-Regional teams in the tournament; the NBA should do something similar, since their playoffs drag on for nearly a season's length anyway. If the Lakers had managed to knock off the Suns, this would have given Kobe the chance for some individual hardware while sparing the League the embarrassment of giving their only MVP trophy to a player who had already been eliminated from the playoffs.

Agreed? Good, I'm glad that's settled.

Friday, May 05, 2006

Should we allow comments from visitors?

I've noticed on our sitemeter traffic results that we get a good bit of lurkers from KU. Maybe there is some interest from them and they could provide witty commentary. I don't think we are in danger of eclipsing phog.net anytime soon though. Please cast your vote.

Should we allow outsiders to comment on our posts?
No, Never!
Yes, Always.
Let's do it on a trial basis and see if we have to deal with retards.
I am abstaining.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Bear Market For Bulls





'Da Bulls finally went down last night despite Kirk's 26-point effort. This team needs another star besides Hinrich and Ben Gordon (above, in crucifixion pose). I've heard some Kevin Garnett rumors, but the Bulls would really have to give up the store to pull that off.

Hinrich is great, but not quite great enough to carry a team on his back. Even in college, he was more comfortable deferring to Gooden or Collison than he was at taking games over himself. And though he's a great shooter, he's not great at creating his own shot, a la Wade or Kobe. He shot better as a junior when opponents were worried about guarding Boschee; as a senior, when all the focus was on him, his percentages drooped a bit.

Some Jayhawks are still alive to fight another day: the Nets, featuring backup point man Jacque Vaughn (pictured) advanced to face the seemingly vulnerable Heat, though I doubt they'll have any more luck than Chicago did. Also, Drew and the Cavs could advance tonight with a win over the Billy Thomas-led Wizards.

And if you didn't stay up to watch the Suns OT win over the Lake show last night, you missed an epic clash of titans. The Suns now have a chance to accomplish the rare feat of winning a series after having trailed 3-1. Both MVP candidates did what they do best; Kobe won the scoring battle and made some jaw-dropping shots, but this was a perfect illustration of why 32 points and 13 assists (Nash) beats 50 points and 2 assists (Kobe) most of the time, and why the MVP should rightly go to Nash no matter who wins Game 7 on Saturday. Maybe I'll do a post on that issue later.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Damn You Carl Peterson!!!

Here's my take on the Chiefs draft, not that anybody here gives a f***. Overall, I give it a C. Watch the video afterwards. I didn't like the pick, but Bennie Pollard is apparently nicknamed the "Bonecrusher" I think the video explains it. Even if you hate football, the video is worth a look.


Rd. 1: Tamba Hali Hali , Penn St, DE = C no one has been able to convince me that this guy wouldn't have been available at 30 and if not someone with similar ability would've been there. I really hope he works out, because pass rush is one of our weakest areas.

Rd. 2: Bennie Pollard, Purdue, SS = F this guy was a 4th rounder according to nearly everyone. more than that he duplicates positions we already have. Total reach.

Rd. 3: Brodie Croyle, Alabama, QB = A great value. First QBOTF that has a real shot to be a QBOTF. like his ability and heart.Rd.

4: Herman Edwards (trade with Jets for coach) = B+ considering the player the Jets picked here maybe I could rate this pick higher.

Rd. 5: Marcus Maxey, FS/CB Miami = C FS candidate who is three steps slow. hopefully he will rock on SP teams.

Rd. 6. Tre Stallings, Ole Miss G / Jeff Webb, San Diego St WR = A+ As you can see from my new avy, I like the Webb pick. (it's an A+++, which averages out with my B excitement over Stallings to an A+). Stallings looks like he mightbe molded Svitek style.Rd.

7. Jarrad Page, UCLA, SS. = D- Did we really need another safety? he's sure to be cut, but at least someone else might've had a better shotat the scout team.