Irrational Exuberance

Chris's postgame analysis:

"Aaaaaaaaaaghghkkkkthppppppppyuopoiihvfsgbjhfc!"

ESPN's analysis: "How to Explain KU? Don't Even Try."

Keegan: "Kansas, Tyshawn Taylor Topsy-Turvy."

CBS's Borzello: "My mentality has grown and matured in a huge, huge way," Taylor added. "It's like everyone else that went to college. I changed drastically."

Lutz: "Somehow, some way, Kansas is in the final."

CNNSI's Mandel: "We're a sloppy team sometimes," conceded Withey. "But we like that, because if we can get the other team out of rhythm, they're done."

Mass. Street to Bourbon Street!

Loose transcription of text message from Chris last night:

"Aaaaffhkhfhkhkgggggggg**hhhhhjhjjj!!!"

I believe this aptly summed up all of our most eloquent feelings on this crazy team making it to the Final 4.

Chris's earlier comparison with 2003 is holding true. The gritty two-seed knocks off the front-running one-seed, after some early-round games where we didn't look very sharp at times. And even though Vegas was favoring us, our guys still played with that loose, underdog attitude that we as KU fans so seldom get to experience. This was more exciting than surviving Davidson in '08, just as knocking off 'Zona in '03 was more of a thrill than hammering Oregon in '02.

And what a huge milestone for Self, getting that huge Elite 8 millstone off his neck once and (probably) for all.

I'm in such a good mood I'm going to post a Good/Bad Keegan Quote of the Day:

"The combination of ladders and scissors on nylon always puts a coach in a good mood, but this time it had a little extra meaning to the coach who doesn’t need a ladder to stand eye-to-eye with college basketball coaching giants, past and present."

I mean, it's so bad it's good. Or maybe I'm so happy right now that it just doesn't matter.

(Finally) Playing to Seed

(Exhale.)

All right, can we all breathe a little easier now? Esp. the players?

That's two games in a row where we were just as inept on offense as we were against VCU and UNI -- if not more so, actually. This game was more frustrating than Purdue because there was no excuse for our weak offense -- the opponent didn't throw any weird wrinkles at us, we were just doing it to ourselves with brick after brick (not just 3-pointers -- I can only remember two made jumpers of any kind the whole night, both by EJ, and we choked at the free throw line too), not to mention the wave of turnovers at the start and finish of the game.

We knew at least one game like this would happen in the Dance. Fortunately, just as I was hoping would be the case, this Kansas team just shown just a little bit more grit, despite far less talent, than the last two. (Or maybe we're just a bit luckier; one or two bounces the other way and we might have beaten VCU and UNI, or lost to Purdue or NC State. Who knows?)

What's weird to me is that this offensive ineptitude has come against teams not known for defense -- and now we face yet another such team in the Heels. At some point we're going to start making some shots, right? RIGHT?

Ugly as it was, the highlight reel was not bad at all -- Withey's blocks; the Ty-Withey alley oop; Travis's retro, slow-motion fast-break spin move; and another sweet game-saving layup by EJ.

But it sure was nice to see Shaka Smart doing postgame commentary instead of celebrating another upset on the court. The clock has struck midnight for Cinderella. The closest thing to Cinderella left is ... Florida? It's time for the clash of the titans.

Speaking of titans, kudos to Jeff, a nonentity vs. Purdue but a Wilt-like juggernaut vs. the Pack. It'll be fascinating to see how he matches up with Henson.

Elijah Rising

That was about as excited as I've ever been to get out of the 2nd round. The Purdue game had all the hallmarks of VCU-UNI-etc. -- a jittery KU team looking inept on offense, star players neutralized, unfavorable (though not altogether terrible) officiating, sleeper opponent making circus shots and throwing weird matchup wrinkles at us. And yet this time, we pulled it out, thanks to the one guy we've been begging to be more aggressive all year: Elijah.

I've been fond of the kid ever since he was a freshman benchwarmer who didn't seem to mind that he wasn't getting the PT he could get at most schools. He has the whole package -- defense, shooting, driving, and passing -- but just never seemed to have his head on straight when he got into games. But talk about peaking at the right time -- we've said all year we needed that third scorer just for tough tourney games like this one, and he arrived in the nick of time.

There are a lot of things I could scold this team about, as I was during the game, but at this point of the season I don't know how much difference it makes. We are who we are, and you have to assume T-Rob, Ty, and Withey will all be better in the next round.

I seem to have cursed us by marveling at our great shooting vs. A&M -- in the three games since then we've shot the ball terribly. That has to turn around in St. Louis, right? RIGHT?

Freaky Friday

Mizzou goes down! Duke goes down! What am I forgetting? Oh yeah, 'Hawks win!

I think that was my favorite 1st Round ever. (Sorry, NCAA, it's the 1st Round, not the 2nd Round. Everybody knows it. Just accept it.)

It didn't occur to me until late last night that Lehigh was the same Patriot League pest that gave us the cold sweats in the 1st Round two years ago. I wonder how many more upsets like this need to happen to Coach K before Kansas stops getting singled out for tourney chokes. (And I also enjoyed seeing Calhoun and co. taking the fall -- all the ESPN pundits kept talking about the "heavyweight" matchup between UConn and Kentucky in the next round, totally ignoring Iowa State, who kicked ass in that game.)

It was a very good round for the Big 12 -- when you factor in the FACT that Mizzou is no longer in the conference. They're done. Good-bye. May their NCAA curse continue for another hundred years.

What am I forgetting? Oh yes, Kansas. The main thing is that Robinson and Withey were bad... ass. We may just have the best front line in the country. Also have to give some love to Elijah, who played like a superstar in the 2nd half, and to the much-maligned (by Deron) bench, which steadied the ship in the 1st half after early backcourt foul trouble.

Good to see us win so convincingly without shooting well from outside. Now we're overdue for a good shooting game, right?

March Madness/Anxiety

This time of year really has become a pressure-cooker for Jayhawk fans, hasn't it?

Rather than looking at the early-round matchups and saying, yeah, we can beat these teams, now we look at them and wring our hands and come up with ways that they could beat us.

I'm certainly the worst offender. I look at Detroit and see VCU, I look at St. Mary's and see UNI.

The good thing about Detroit and St. Mary's is that they don't seem to be strong defensively, so if we can just play our usual hard-nosed D without fouling and avoid unforced errors on offense, we win. (The same would be true vs. UNC if it comes to that.)

I think our defense is steadier than it was last year, maybe steady enough to avoid a VCU-like collapse -- and I think our offense is steadier than it was two years ago, maybe enough to avoid a UNI-like collapse. The biggest question will probably be how the games are called -- this team can ill afford foul trouble.

I'm trying to keep things in perspective this year and focus on the opportunity for triumph rather than the opportunity for failure. I hope Self and co. can do the same.

Eight Is Not Enough

ESPN's Eamonn Brennan puts our 8-year title streak in proper perspective:

"At various times in Kansas's run, the Big 12 has been the best or second-best conference in the country. (Per Ken Pomeroy, that's the case again this year; the Big 12 ranks behind only the Big 10 in overall strength.) At various times in Self's tenure, his competition has recruited and rostered the likes of Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Acie Law, Tristan Thompson, James Anderson, Tony Allen, and D.J Augustin -- and that's literally just the NBA guys that first came to mind."

Damn straight. As Roy would say, we haven't exactly been playing against the Sisters of the Poor.

On the other hand, if we need something to have a chip on our shoulders about, and I think maybe we do:

I notice that CNNSI has left Kansas off its annual "Magic Eight" teams that can win the title -- for "intangible" reasons, i.e. the recent upset "curse."

You know, I was crushed by VCU and UNI as well, but you do wonder how many titles we have to win before people stop talking about upset curses. And in the past I remember the Magic 8 was based on tangible criteria -- like no team that had gotten blown out by 30 points could be included. Yet UNC, which lost by 33 to a football school, is there.

That list was made before the MU game. Maybe they're having second thoughts?

Mizzou, Adieu

I hate to start on a negative note, but I did not care for our performance and demeanor down the stretch vs. the Aggies. It annoys me to no end that this team tries to blow it when it gets a good lead. TT and T-Rob have had great seasons but we need them to play a lot smarter in crunch time.

The only good thing about the near-collapse was that it means we won't be complacent going into Saturday's monumental game, which might have been a danger since we have a one-game cushion over them.

But I'll stop complaining. The important thing is we've now won 2 out of those 3 tough road games as we needed to do, plus Mizzou helped by getting swept by the other 'Cats. Now all we need to do is give Mizzou a proper sendoff.

I just can't believe the rivalry ends here. I'm glad I got to see two KU-MU games in person -- in Columbia in 2003 when we escaped on a circus shot by Aaron Miles, and at home in 2000, another close win, which was the loudest I've ever heard the Phog.

(Coincidentally, as I type I'm seeing none other than Quin Snyder at the edge of my TV screen, now a Lakers assistant but looking as sweaty and twitchy as ever. And appropriately, his team is in the process of losing to OKC, featuring Collison -- though he's injured -- and Cole, finally getting some minutes.)

But the circle of life continues. Even as we lose the rivalry, we celebrate the arrival of the newest member of Jayhawk Nation. Welcome, Franklin.

The Split, The Streak, and The Sweep

We got the split! I said last week I'd be happy with going 1-1 on this road trip, and I am. Glad to see no ill effects from Saturday.

And the 6-year streak with no consecutive losses goes on. Nothing's more dangerous than a Bill Self team coming off a defeat. Does someone keep records on this? This has to be one of the great all-time runs -- coinciding of course with the six-year duration of this blog.

All hail Withey, TT, and T-Rob! (Later during Duke-UNC, Vitale couldn't believe it when he saw the numbers: "Withey with 25, Perry Jones with 5?")

Chris texted me asking what the hell happened -- he left work with us down 10 and got home to find us up 20. Damn L.A. traffic.

Unfortunately I missed most of the game myself, but it appears one of the things that happened in that run was that rare bird, the 7-point play: First, T-Rob gets the and-1; on his free throw make, Baylor's Miller inexplicably nails Withey with a vicious elbow; on the technical foul, Withey makes the free throw and KU retains the ball; and finally, Tyshawn hits a three. In one possession, KU lead goes from 8 to 15.

I wasn't optimistic in my preview yesterday, just because it's so hard to sweep a good team. Maybe the jury's still out on just how good Baylor really is. They still only have 3 losses -- two of them to Kansas. Now we're 3-3 against the Top 10 -- not too shabby.

Just saw Gottlieb on TV putting Kansas among his Top 5 teams -- over Duke, and narrowly over Mizzou, he said.

Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

It's a shame no one has time to blog here anymore, because this is going to be a momentous week for the 'Hawks one way or the other -- an unprecedented gauntlet of consecutive road games vs. Top 10 teams, with major conference implications at stake.

If I'm recalling correctly, Kansas has not lost two games in a row in the entire history of this blog -- not since early in the 2006 season. But we've never had a two-game road swing like this in my memory; that streak could very easily come to an end. If so, we would go from one game up in conference to one game down, with Mizzou and Baylor then tied for 1st; we'd also probably get knocked out of the Top 10, because that's just the way it goes. But we'd still have a good shot at continuing our Big 12 title streak, since Mizzou has yet to play at the Fieldhouse and Baylor has yet to play at Mizzou.

Honestly I'd be thrilled with a split. A sweep is just too damn much to ask for.

But assuming we lose one or both, I'm still very curious to see HOW we lose. Will we let ourselves get steamrolled like Baylor and Ohio State did at the Fieldhouse? (Or like North Carolina at Florida State? How are we ranked below them, by the way?) Or will we at least take them to the wire and put the fear of God into their fans? We're going to find out something about the character of this team.

(Oh yeah, and also Saturday could be our last game ever at Mizzou, the end of a century-long era -- which we could talk about, if anyone's still out there.)