Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Tyshawn Taylor

I'm having a hard time getting a read on this guy. I've missed a few games out here without being able to get them on TV for the first time unless it's nationally televised. Probably need to bite the bullet and get ESPN Full Court or something.

He seems like a solid defender, sometimes. But he also seems like a headcase, sometimes. Yeah he's a freshman, what do you guys think his ceiling is though.

Is he more Russ Rob or more Chalmers? He kind of reminds me of a Marlon London type, but that's maybe too harsh.

And any predictions on the football hawks tonight?

I say we win the Glen Mason bowl by three TDS, 42-21.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Temple's Doom

That's more like it. The victory over a good Temple squad this weekend was the textbook for how we have to win games this year -- hardcore D, big numbers from Cole and Sherron, and more contributions than errors from the freshmen.

I think it needs to be said right now: Cole has been almost perfect this season so far. Now I've probably jinxed him.

Is this team ready for its first road test -- at Arizona, no less? Both teams are a little suspect, with the Cats facing coaching turnover, so I'll give the 'Hawks a 50-50 chance to steal this one.

Incidentally, I still don't see what the problem was with the mohawks.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Horror, The Horror

There were a lot of positive takeaways from the Syracuse loss, but yesterday's loss to the UMass Minutemen is best relegated to the dustbin of history.

The freshmen were without exception horrendous -- the capper being the late-game foul by Marcus Morris on a player 20 feet from the basket with 1 second left on the shot clock, completely wrecking what had been a great defensive sequence for the 'Hawks.

But the elder statesmen bear some blame as well -- Collins for once again taking too many bad shots, and Self for the late-game T and uncreative play-calling.

Sherron is starting to turn into Allen Iverson out there, putting up big numbers but overhandling and taking too many shots to get there -- and ultimately, losing the game. We need to start running more plays to set him up for the jumper, as when they ran the "Mario" at the end of the game.

The good news is we can't play much worse than that, yet only lost by one; and the freshmen will only get better. But what's still worrying me is shooting. Do we have any other shooters besides Sherron? If not, teams are just going to keep swarming Cole and we won't be able to counter it.

On a positive note: I do believe that despite the outcome today, the mohawks should stay.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Enemy Of The 'States'

Since the 'Cuse loss, it's been a series of home wins over "State" schools -- Coppin, Kent and New Mexico.

The only impressive one of the three was Kent State -- a perennial mid-Major nuisance that took Illinois to overtime recently. Beating them at Allen is no big deal, but doing so by 27 points is a good sign. I saw a bit of this one online -- including this play.

Oh, and I did get to watch our brilliant football victory over Mizzou last week. Was that great or what? Eh? Mmm?

Still no big basketball games on the immediate horizon, but I think the future looks bright, especially with the imminent debut of Mario Little.

Next sacrificial lamb at the Fieldhouse? Jackson State.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

(Hiccup)

Before Syracuse pulled a Mario on us at the end of last night's game, I was ready to write another post about how much promise this team has, how great the newcomers are, how far we can go in March, etc. So I'll still try to keep this on a relatively positive note.

A lot of the good things we said yesterday still stand. As a matter of fact, some of the newcomers impressed me even more against the 'Cuse than against the Huskies.

I may have been unfair to the twins. Last night they were snatching contested rebounds, blocking shots, nailing 3's, driving and dishing -- Marcus had 2 turnovers last night, but he also had 6 assists. (!)

And Tyshawn Taylor? That f**king guy can finish!

On the other hand, Taylor did have 4 of our 17 turnovers, and TOs were the key to the game, I thought. The Orange had almost as many, but more of ours were in the backcourt, leading to easy runouts for them; I thought our defense was pretty good, but they shot 48% largely because we gave them so many layups.

Which begs the question: Who is our point guard? Down the stretch Taylor was bringing the ball up, but he doesn't really strike me as a PG -- only had 2 assists to his 4 TOs. If Sherron is our only guy who can really play the point, this could be a huge Achilles heel. Maybe Reed can do it? He had a terrible first half but finished with 5 assists.

FTs were obviously an issue as well -- one more from Cole at the end and we win the game. The twins seem to be a liability at the stripe: 1 for 5 collectively.

But the other major problem last night was Sherron, as he readily admits. He seemed out to prove that he was better than Syracuse's Flynn, which led to a lot of ill-advised freelancing down the stretch, and his miscues seemed to deflate our whole team. Maybe he's not yet "ready to lead," after all.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

We're Back, Baby!

Last night against Washington was my first exposure to the '09 'Hawks, though my ESPN-deuce shorted out for the first 15 minutes of it. What I saw, from the 6:30 mark of the 1st half on, was more than encouraging:

1. Cole is ready to break out as a star. He didn't look like a guy who'd been warming the bench only last season.

2. Sherron has become a supremely confident quarterback. Like Obama, he is putting to rest all questions about being "ready to lead."

3. The supporting cast looks none too shabby. Morningstar, Taylor, and the twins -- esp. Marcus -- all showed me something last night. And Conner T. got his stroke back.

4. The Self formula lives on with different personnel. The zone is not necessarily a welcome innovation, but shooting 50% while holding the opponent to 29% -- those are numbers worthy of last year's team.

Now, a few caveats:

1. This was a home game, with friendly refs, against a team that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Is our defense really that good, or are the Huskies just that incompetent? Syracuse tonight will be a better gauge.

2. Outside shooting could be a big question mark. Cole and Sherron need to be able to kick it out when the double-teams come, but we were 2 for 9 from 3-point range; Morningstar and Reed were 0-fer. (The line has been moved back this year, which could theoretically help us if it makes the inside game that much more important; but still, we're in a bit of a hole if we can't nail the open 3.)

3. Rebounding was obviously an issue. That's typically the first thing to suffer when you go to a zone, and we were playing against maybe the best rebounder in the nation in Brockman. So let's reserve judgment on that one.

4. The Twins, as advertised, have talent but low hoops IQ -- remind me a little of C.J. Giles. They combined for half of our 10 turnovers. As sidekicks to Aldrich, they can be very dangerous; hopefully he stays healthy and they won't have to be load-bearers.

We haven't done predictions yet, because I had absolutely no sense of this team until last night. Maybe after this tourney we can do some late handicapping.

Tonight, j'Cuse!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

2-0 and Nothing to Say


We're perfect in exhibition season!

Woo!

Anyone out there?

Highlights from the Emporia State game here

Friday, August 29, 2008

Basketball Tomorrow!

Football too!

Both teams are underway starting tomorrow; will either season be as wonderful as last year? Tough acts to follow. Will we get an idea tomorrow? Well, the football game isn't being televised, so that's a tough one.

And basketball? It's not even mentioned on the schedule I posted before going silent recently, but if you'll look at this version of the schedule you'll see that there are actually three exhibition games in Canada this weekend, starting with the Redmen of McGill University

How will our young team fare? Will the Morris twins be cleared in time to play? Will even highlights show up on video anywhere?

Exciting times.
Happy Labor Day. And go Obama!

[Sorry, Scott: I had to bump this back to the top. The first basketball and football games seem bigger than one man's phone issues (no disrespect). (Granted, you and I are the only action on here for like a month . . .) Anyhow, I'll try give you a call this weekend . . .]

Hello All.




This will probably get me on some weird 3rd party telemarketer calls, but here goes.

I have lost everyone's phone numbers. When I moved out here after a couple of months AT&T sent me a nasty letter saying "we don't like you using other people's towers. We are terminating your contract."

In any event I had to get rid of the beloved Treo and have now moved down to Alltel (maybe Allsmell) and the Motorola Q (PU). I copied all of the numbers by hand from one phone to the other, sold the Treo on eBay, and then promptly in two weeks the new phone crashed. I had backed them up on Vista, but my phone tells me that Vista is not compatible with anything on the face of the earth, ever.

In any event, if all of you that I know could give me a quick call and either shoot the s*** or leave a message at (620) 255-6207, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Oh What the Hell

Here's the schedule:


Anyone still reading this?

Friday, June 27, 2008

Drafted

We can officially say goodbye to Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and "Shady" Arthur, all drafted last night along with seniors Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun.

It was not necessarily a great night for the KU guys overall, with Brandon as the only lottery pick (going to Indiana); Shady falling all the way to 27 before getting traded 3 times (!), finally landing at Memphis (I think); and Mario falling all the way out of Round 1 (picked even below J.R. Giddens!) and ending up with the Miami Heat, where he may join DJ.

Looks as if Shady and Mario could have benefited from staying in college another year, no?

Any thoughts on the careers these guys may have? I think they can all contribute, even Sasha and DJ. The other three could be starters, maybe minor stars on the level of Hinrich -- but no superstars in the bunch, I think.

Still, Mario and DJ have a great opportunity to excel as role players in Miami alongside Beasley and D-Wade. Watch out for that team next season...

By the way, what happens to Kirk now that the Bulls picked Rose at #1? Stay tuned.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Shouldn't Somebody Do a Post?


(Photo from the AFP (?) story.)

About another Jayhawk getting a championship ring?

I didn't see the whole series, but what I saw last night was, well, both surprising and fun.


Here's from an email from another Seattle-area alum:
"And the TRUTH shall set you free. Yay for Paul Pierce and the Celtics!!!!!!!"

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Mr. Self Goes To Washington



In another parallel to 1988, once again the national champion 'Hawks get a White House photo op with a none-too-bright, lame-duck Republican president.

See White House transcript here. Typical Bush witticism: "I just wish Big Jay and Baby Jay could have come with you. Barney was looking forward to meeting them."

Monday, April 28, 2008

Remember Where You Were When...

I hadn't had a chance yet to compile pics from the game. Here goes...

































Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Jealous?

Guess who got an official Chalmer's jersey signed by all 17 players? This is probably the last time I'm going to actually wear it. I think I'll get it framed. I'm not sure exactly how much I could get for it on ebay but I'm not going to sell it. ROCK CHALK!



Sheron's signature (lower right) is especially cool -- Chalmer's and Rush's are right in the middle.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

a Few More Highlights

Not sure if you'd seen this over on my blog, where it has a more Seattle-based appeal, but this highlight reel from the UNC game is pretty fun, as Jamie's doing the talking:



In other news (?) the Downtown Barber Shop has restored Roy's picture to the main room and removed it from the bathroom, so that's some nice, if tardy, maturity. Is that news? It was in today's Times, so I guess it is . . .


Well, I guess it's back to work and all of that. Great pics, Aaron. Wish I could've been there . . .


Oh, I can't resist. I know we've all seen these highlights a hundred times (I've seen the entire game three times, for heaven's sake), but here's one more reel, from CBS:


Rock Chalk.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Parade on Mass

They estimate the crowd on Mass at 100,000 and I believe it. It stretched from 7th clear down to south park. Here's a shot from about 8th looking south.


Here's some pics from the parade.









After the parade there was a final celebration and award ceremony at the Fieldhouse. Here's the '88 trophy and rings.


Here's a closeup of the '88 rings.


And here's a closeup of Simien's championship ring with the Heat... bling, bling!