(No exclamation point needed. It's scientific fact now.)
Sorry, Seth Davis.
So many things to like in the box score against Temple:
Sherron: 14 points, 6-9, 2-4 from 3, 4 assists and 3 steals to zero turnovers.
Xavier: 15 without breaking a sweat, and his brother goes 2 for 3 from deep.
Tyshawn: 5 rebounds -- important given all the Temple 3 attempts clanging long off the rim.
Brady: 5 assists, and nailing his only shot attempt -- a big 3 in the first half.
The 'Hawks shot 54% against a team previously holding opponents in the 30s -- while Temple was held to 25%. Nine (yes, 9) Kansas players shot 50% or better.
You were in Philly, right, Aaron? Sure was nice to hear "Rock Chaaalk" at the end.
The only comparison that comes to mind is the UNC Final Four game: the whole time watching the game I would think "wow, not only can we play with good teams in tough gyms, we can _dominate_ those teams."
ReplyDeleteI think Aaron missed this one, but thankfully the Morris brothers somehow have a family of 50, which certainly helped with the atmosphere.
Hard to think of anything negative about the game. And Cole looked much much better--I think I'm ready to stop worrying about him and enjoy a great season.
Speaking of: Emily has become hooked on realtimerpi.com. Like Seth Davis, they thought we'd lose to Temple, and predicted 7 losses on the season.
And now?
They expect 31-0 for the year.
Is that even possible anymore? Sure is fun to consider!
Thank god the Big 12 is good this year - K-State in the top ten?! Because our non-conference schedule could get even softer.
ReplyDeleteFour Tennessee players got arrested for drug and gun charges. They are out for Tenn's game this week. Not certain whether they play against KU. I say, let 'em play. Just pat them down before they take the court.
Even Bruce Pearl doesn't have the balls to reinstate those players this quickly. I have to assume they're out.
ReplyDeleteAs for the sked, I'll never figure out this RPI stuff if I live to be 100. On the site YHD linked above, KU's SOS is 64th -- which sounds bad, but is better than UNC (68), Texas (114!) and Kentucky (154!).
Also, trap game alert: Cornell is RPI #37, is getting votes in both polls, and has won road games at Alabama, UMass, Bucknell and St. Johns.
Lots of good stuff on the interwebs:
ReplyDeleteSeth Davis: "Jump on the Texas-Kentucky-Syracuse bandwagon if you wish, but I still say the Jayhawks will be hoisting the big trophy on April 5. Yes, I picked them to lose at Temple, and I still say Kansas will not go undefeated. (Nobody will.) But the one thing people underestimate is how much room Kansas still has to get better."
Scot Pollard, over lunch at the Yacht Club: "We're really good."
Bill Self, in the locker room after Temple: "If you think you should have played more minutes, tell me who the f*ck to take out."
Unfortunately I did not make it to the Temple game. Thanks to the economy I didn't get a single interview at the APA. I couldn't justify a flight to Philly just for the game. My friend went with another friend and said that KU fans totally took over the arena. We looked amazing however... I really thought that game would be closer. I can't wait for the first (of I expect several including a possible final four) match-up with Texas.
ReplyDeleteTrue, a rematch w/ UT in the Big 12 final and the national final is not far-fetched.
ReplyDeleteSorry the Philly trip didn't work out.
Probably should write a new post to give Sherron his props for yesterday.
ReplyDeleteBut here's his line (in case you haven't memorized it yet):
33 points;
9-16 field goals (including 2 of 5 from 3);
13-14 from the line (!);
4 rebounds;
3 assists;
2 steals;
and only 1 turnover. Damn.
Wasn't exactly fun to watch that game, but there's probably something good about having to struggle once in a while...
PS, speaking of struggles, sorry about the APA, Aaron. I didn't get any calls either, but in my case I think it's less the economy and more my surly cover letters.