CJ Giles, D-Block, Sasha, Kleinmann, Julian, Darrell, Cole, Marcus, Markieff, Quintrell Thomas, TRob, Withey. This is the list. These are the big men who have come to Lawrence for the tutelage of former NCAA POY, Tourney MOP, and NBA All-Star Danny Manning. Remove the transfers (Giles and Thomas) and the walk-on (Kleinmann), and the rest have all been NBA draft picks or undrafted free agents, or soon will be (TRob and Withey). Every one of them. They came to Kansas to be groomed for the NBA by a guy who had a lengthy career there, and the NBA responded. Most of them have not panned out in the league, but the league respected Danny’s grooming and he made millionaires out of them all. So, while all of my Jayhawk brethren are tripping all over themselves to congratulate our fellow alumni, Mr. Miracle, my question is this: what now?
I don’t want to be the guy that always looks at the glass half empty, but we may be a little less than half empty. TRob is gone. With Coach Manning leaving, does Withey help his cause by staying another year? He just had an NCAA tournament run where it was highly publicized that he had the second most blocks of all-time. Can his stock get that much higher? Does staying at Kansas another year, without the instruction of Danny really help him? Jeff claims he’s coming back, but I am unconvinced that he will or that he should. And, guess what: the cupboard is pretty bare. Kansas has not recruited a big man for the last two seasons. Yes, we have KY and Justin Wesley, and yes, we’ll have Jamari Traylor, all having been coached up by Danny for a half-season or more. But, is that sufficient? Young has shown definite signs of development, but he is still very raw. Justin Wesley cannot get off the bench without drawing a foul, or being posterized, or both. Traylor has yet to suit up. And what of the incoming class for 2012-13? Landen Lucas, Zach Peters, Andrew White – these young men signed on expecting to enjoy the results of the aforementioned NBA’ers. Do they have second thoughts? Shouldn’t they? Lastly, what about moving forward? Word today is that McDonald’s All-American Tony Parker is still interested in coming to KU. I truly believe that what he decides will be an omen of what’s to come. Now, to be fair, Kansas may not have been his choice anyway. Nevertheless, I’m very interested to see how it plays out.
Don’t get me wrong. I am happy for Danny, and think that it’s important that the most likely heir to Self’s chair gets some head coaching experience. And, as I’ve previously documented, I think that our coach is the best in the business. Furthermore, I love Danny’s probable replacement, Norm Roberts. He is a proven commodity on the bench and the recruiting trail. But Norm Roberts ain’t Danny Manning. And because of that, I can only (selfishly) look at today as a sad, sad day for my beloved University of Kansas.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Why I prefer Batman to Superman...
…or, my Ode to Tyshawn Taylor.
This is the most unlikely of blog posts. Throughout his first three years of eligibility, I was, without a doubt, one of Ty’s most ardent critics; one of those alumni that the national sports media talk about, who harped upon the young undergraduate for all of his many flaws. Understand that I crucified this young man for every off-court peccadillo: from his involvement in “the fight” between Coach Self’s basketball players and Coach Mangino’s football players in September of 2009 to his facebook transfer posts in 2010, to his suspension at the beginning of the 2011-12 season. I was utterly consumed by the off-court, “sports-as-life” narrative that was being written of the character, Tyshawn Taylor. And I ain’t that guy.
More importantly, I loathed his game. Having been privy to Kansas’ great court generals: the cerebral astuteness of Jacque Vaughn, the amazing vision and distributive prowess of Aaron Miles, the tenacity and assertiveness of Sherron Collins, the mantle passed to Taylor was admittedly, and perhaps unfairly, set at a very lofty level. Nonetheless, I was, let’s just say, less than impressed by Ty’s ball-handling, his decision-making, and, most importantly, his leadership skills. I was a forerunner of the guys who chanted “Turnover Taylor” and I basked in the decision by Coach Self to replace Ty with Elijah Johnson as a starter for several games in the 2010-11 campaign. I was, in fact, stumped as to the reasoning behind Coach Self not running the ungrateful and undisciplined Taylor out of Lawrence when he got chippy on The Book.
So having said all of that… let me now say this: I love Tyshawn Taylor.
Tyshawn Taylor has certainly, easily made his way into my Top 5 all-time Jayhawks list – and I’m old and sentimental enough where that list is composed of a stellar group of student athletes drawn from a few decades worth of top-flight talent. And let me take it a step further:
For me, the growth and development of Tyshawn Taylor was the highlight of the 2011-12 season.
That’s right; not our 8th straight Big XII title, not our epic 172nd victory over Missouri, not even our story-book run to the NCAA Tournament Championship game. I’m serious.
See, I’m that guy. I’m the guy that loves Batman and abhors Superman. For a Kansan, that’s a dangerous statement. But it’s true, and here’s why: when your alien physiology is dropped into a solar system with a Yellow Sun, battling mere mortals seems kind of trivial. Being faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound always excites Dickie V and the masses, but, for me, it’s just not as impressive as the average Joe who has to overcome adversity with batarang alone. That takes sheer will. The will to vanquish your enemies. And as the year progressed, Taylor and his batarang will slayed enemy after enemy. And I am not ashamed to say that Ty’s humanity - not just his twitter rants and his vapid insecurities - but his one-for-two dozen struggles from beyond the arc, endeared him to me on such a guttural level.
In so many ways, the media and the Kansas Athletic Department exploited the Thomas Robinson tragedy and turned him into a hero. And he is a hero. And his rise from tragedy is Shakespearean. But the physical skills and talents that the gods blessed T-Rob with are, for purposes of analogy, Kryptonian. By comparison, Ty is very human, very flawed. In Hollywood’s most recent incarnation of Batman, Commissioner Gordon states: “He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.” I can’t think of a more apt description of what Ty endured at KU, and, yet, I am so thankful to have benefitted from it.
Thanks, Ty. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.
This is the most unlikely of blog posts. Throughout his first three years of eligibility, I was, without a doubt, one of Ty’s most ardent critics; one of those alumni that the national sports media talk about, who harped upon the young undergraduate for all of his many flaws. Understand that I crucified this young man for every off-court peccadillo: from his involvement in “the fight” between Coach Self’s basketball players and Coach Mangino’s football players in September of 2009 to his facebook transfer posts in 2010, to his suspension at the beginning of the 2011-12 season. I was utterly consumed by the off-court, “sports-as-life” narrative that was being written of the character, Tyshawn Taylor. And I ain’t that guy.
More importantly, I loathed his game. Having been privy to Kansas’ great court generals: the cerebral astuteness of Jacque Vaughn, the amazing vision and distributive prowess of Aaron Miles, the tenacity and assertiveness of Sherron Collins, the mantle passed to Taylor was admittedly, and perhaps unfairly, set at a very lofty level. Nonetheless, I was, let’s just say, less than impressed by Ty’s ball-handling, his decision-making, and, most importantly, his leadership skills. I was a forerunner of the guys who chanted “Turnover Taylor” and I basked in the decision by Coach Self to replace Ty with Elijah Johnson as a starter for several games in the 2010-11 campaign. I was, in fact, stumped as to the reasoning behind Coach Self not running the ungrateful and undisciplined Taylor out of Lawrence when he got chippy on The Book.
So having said all of that… let me now say this: I love Tyshawn Taylor.
Tyshawn Taylor has certainly, easily made his way into my Top 5 all-time Jayhawks list – and I’m old and sentimental enough where that list is composed of a stellar group of student athletes drawn from a few decades worth of top-flight talent. And let me take it a step further:
For me, the growth and development of Tyshawn Taylor was the highlight of the 2011-12 season.
That’s right; not our 8th straight Big XII title, not our epic 172nd victory over Missouri, not even our story-book run to the NCAA Tournament Championship game. I’m serious.
See, I’m that guy. I’m the guy that loves Batman and abhors Superman. For a Kansan, that’s a dangerous statement. But it’s true, and here’s why: when your alien physiology is dropped into a solar system with a Yellow Sun, battling mere mortals seems kind of trivial. Being faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound always excites Dickie V and the masses, but, for me, it’s just not as impressive as the average Joe who has to overcome adversity with batarang alone. That takes sheer will. The will to vanquish your enemies. And as the year progressed, Taylor and his batarang will slayed enemy after enemy. And I am not ashamed to say that Ty’s humanity - not just his twitter rants and his vapid insecurities - but his one-for-two dozen struggles from beyond the arc, endeared him to me on such a guttural level.
In so many ways, the media and the Kansas Athletic Department exploited the Thomas Robinson tragedy and turned him into a hero. And he is a hero. And his rise from tragedy is Shakespearean. But the physical skills and talents that the gods blessed T-Rob with are, for purposes of analogy, Kryptonian. By comparison, Ty is very human, very flawed. In Hollywood’s most recent incarnation of Batman, Commissioner Gordon states: “He's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.” I can’t think of a more apt description of what Ty endured at KU, and, yet, I am so thankful to have benefitted from it.
Thanks, Ty. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Pay Heed: Beware... The Slog!!!
As is a custom for the Final Four matchups, CBS placed a camera in the locker room with Coach Bill Self for his pregame speech. These things are meant to showcase a coach’s motivational speaking capabilities, and send fans off to the tip with thrills going up their legs. Unfortunately, they generally come across as these canned, predictable rip-offs of Vince Lombardi quotations. Of course, Coach Self is a very different kind of guy than Vince Lombardi – his “aw, shucks” 21st Century Oklahoma sensibilities and charm run counter to the gruff 1950’s Brooklyn demeanor of Lombardi – and, thus, naturally his speech was decidedly different. Self challenged his players to “have more fun playing than I’m going to have coaching” for the game’s 40-minute duration. It’s the kind of thing that endears Coach Self to 21st Century recruits, and CBS’ viewing audience, and Coach is an old pro at it. However, what actually ensued for the game’s 40 minutes was the exact opposite. His players had very little fun, unless in some masochistic way these guys actually enjoy the ugly, smash-mouth slogging that they’ve encountered for the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament, and nee the 2011-12 season itself. And, indeed they may. I would submit to you that Coach Self was having very little fun, but his dance routine with his team in the locker room after the victory may make a liar out of me.
You see, I think this is fun for Coach Self. Not just the thrill of victory, even though since joining the Jayhawks no other coach in America has known victory as often as Coach Self. No, I think that for Bill Self, the thrill actually lies in the slog. He thrived in the world of the slog, known as the B1G Conference. And since coming to the Birthplace of Basketball, he has utilized the slog to win 8 straight titles amidst a conference full of runners and gunners. But he has thrived little more than during the 2012 NCAA Tournament, though most of America may have missed it. Fate, geography, and fan base have put Jayhawk start times at the fringes of the nocturnal schedule. Most of the East Coast sports viewers packed up and headed to bed before Kansas tipped off in its first three tournament games. Thus, they were not privy to some impressive displays of Coach Self’s under-appreciated genius.
After going down early, and allowing Ray McCallum to showcase his McDonald’s All-American skills (and Doug Anderson to showcase his Sportscenter dunks), Self made several key adjustments and substitutions that led to a quiet Kansas 15-point victory. Those of us who stayed up to watch, and pay attention, knew what many of the experts had said going in to the matchup: Detroit was no normal 15 seed. Of course, that narrative never materialized because Self coached the senior McCallum out of the Qwest Center. Next up was the B1G’s middle-of-the pack school, Purdue, and, more importantly, their 5th year stud senior, Robbie Hummel. This game was the definition of slog. To say that the officials, “let them play”, would be the grossest understatement of the tournament. And in the 1st half, Hummel won honorable mention in the State Farm 3-point shooting contest along with 22 points. What followed in the 2nd half was a Bill Self coaching clinic. His now-famous implementation of the Triangle-and-Two Zone defense not only stymied Hummel, and his free-shooting teammate Ryan Smith, it embarrassed Self’s counterpart Matt Painter. Or, at least, it should have. Although the Jayhawks trailed for 39 ½ minutes of the contest, for those of us who have watched the progression of Coach Self, there was never a doubt that they had a chance.
The Omaha victory led to a Sweet 16 showdown with Matt Gottfried’s upstart NC State Wolfpack. Because of their late season surge, and Gottfried’s boisterous, non-Self-like personality, the so-called experts were enamored with The Pack, and forgetful of the best coach in the business. In true slog-like fashion, the Jayhawks were down early and often. But, once again, Coach Self’s timely substitutions and effective adjustments sent Kansas to the Elite Eight, and Gottfried back to his fan club in the studio. Yet still, the doubters remained.
When the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee finished putting together the brackets, anyone could see that they envisioned a second weekend storyline which placed the affable Roy Williams against his estranged University of Kansas team. Although Self had dispensed of Williams’ Tarheels in epic fashion in the 2008 tournament - and should have dispensed of Williams’ ghosts in Allen Fieldhouse - the stigma remained. In what should have been a celebration of three games that exhibited Self’s coaching prowess, the narrative instead turned into a three-ring circus headlined by the stale Williams vs. Kansas narrative. Blech. Coach was his usual humble and accommodating self, but he was visibly annoyed, commenting on the way to his press conference, “time to go answer questions about Roy Williams.” And although Self was very complimentary to Williams on the podium, on the court Self was ruthless; he not only out-coached Roy, he emasculated him. Williams was not only unable to answer Self’s Triangle-and-Two, he didn’t even recognize it. And, once again, the doubters never knew what hit them.
That victory led Kansas to its 14th Final Four, and Self ‘s second in his nine-year tenure with the Jayhawks. And although Self had, thus far, demonstrated more coaching prowess than any of his peers in the field, the story was still how KU didn’t have the dogs to compete. While the pundits spent most of the week focusing on a Thomas Robinson/Jared Sullinger match-up that was never going to happen, they failed to focus on the complete dominance Coach Self has enjoyed against his B1G coaching counterparts. And, in the end, although the score was tight, and the result was always in question – Self once again coached Thad Matta into obscurity.
So, as we look to the Championship game, the narrative from the sports journalists will once again be predictable. The focus will be on the “once-and-doners”, the dominance of this UK squad, and the meeting of Player-of-the-Year competitors, Robinson and Anthony Davis. They will, as they have from the start, miss the biggest factor of Monday’s game. These journalists, the so-called experts, will go on endlessly, as they have all tournament long, telling us how great Kentucky’s players are, how they are unstoppable. And the Wildcats players are very, very good. These “experts” will also say that Kansas doesn’t have a chance. For those of us who have followed Coach Self, we’ve come to take this the way that he does. We don’t let the disrespectful nature of such statements rub us wrong. We don’t do what many of our East Coast counterparts do, and get indignant or chippy. Nope. We just get behind the guy who quietly proves them all wrong. And because of that, my money is on Billy Self. Always.
You see, I think this is fun for Coach Self. Not just the thrill of victory, even though since joining the Jayhawks no other coach in America has known victory as often as Coach Self. No, I think that for Bill Self, the thrill actually lies in the slog. He thrived in the world of the slog, known as the B1G Conference. And since coming to the Birthplace of Basketball, he has utilized the slog to win 8 straight titles amidst a conference full of runners and gunners. But he has thrived little more than during the 2012 NCAA Tournament, though most of America may have missed it. Fate, geography, and fan base have put Jayhawk start times at the fringes of the nocturnal schedule. Most of the East Coast sports viewers packed up and headed to bed before Kansas tipped off in its first three tournament games. Thus, they were not privy to some impressive displays of Coach Self’s under-appreciated genius.
After going down early, and allowing Ray McCallum to showcase his McDonald’s All-American skills (and Doug Anderson to showcase his Sportscenter dunks), Self made several key adjustments and substitutions that led to a quiet Kansas 15-point victory. Those of us who stayed up to watch, and pay attention, knew what many of the experts had said going in to the matchup: Detroit was no normal 15 seed. Of course, that narrative never materialized because Self coached the senior McCallum out of the Qwest Center. Next up was the B1G’s middle-of-the pack school, Purdue, and, more importantly, their 5th year stud senior, Robbie Hummel. This game was the definition of slog. To say that the officials, “let them play”, would be the grossest understatement of the tournament. And in the 1st half, Hummel won honorable mention in the State Farm 3-point shooting contest along with 22 points. What followed in the 2nd half was a Bill Self coaching clinic. His now-famous implementation of the Triangle-and-Two Zone defense not only stymied Hummel, and his free-shooting teammate Ryan Smith, it embarrassed Self’s counterpart Matt Painter. Or, at least, it should have. Although the Jayhawks trailed for 39 ½ minutes of the contest, for those of us who have watched the progression of Coach Self, there was never a doubt that they had a chance.
The Omaha victory led to a Sweet 16 showdown with Matt Gottfried’s upstart NC State Wolfpack. Because of their late season surge, and Gottfried’s boisterous, non-Self-like personality, the so-called experts were enamored with The Pack, and forgetful of the best coach in the business. In true slog-like fashion, the Jayhawks were down early and often. But, once again, Coach Self’s timely substitutions and effective adjustments sent Kansas to the Elite Eight, and Gottfried back to his fan club in the studio. Yet still, the doubters remained.
When the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee finished putting together the brackets, anyone could see that they envisioned a second weekend storyline which placed the affable Roy Williams against his estranged University of Kansas team. Although Self had dispensed of Williams’ Tarheels in epic fashion in the 2008 tournament - and should have dispensed of Williams’ ghosts in Allen Fieldhouse - the stigma remained. In what should have been a celebration of three games that exhibited Self’s coaching prowess, the narrative instead turned into a three-ring circus headlined by the stale Williams vs. Kansas narrative. Blech. Coach was his usual humble and accommodating self, but he was visibly annoyed, commenting on the way to his press conference, “time to go answer questions about Roy Williams.” And although Self was very complimentary to Williams on the podium, on the court Self was ruthless; he not only out-coached Roy, he emasculated him. Williams was not only unable to answer Self’s Triangle-and-Two, he didn’t even recognize it. And, once again, the doubters never knew what hit them.
That victory led Kansas to its 14th Final Four, and Self ‘s second in his nine-year tenure with the Jayhawks. And although Self had, thus far, demonstrated more coaching prowess than any of his peers in the field, the story was still how KU didn’t have the dogs to compete. While the pundits spent most of the week focusing on a Thomas Robinson/Jared Sullinger match-up that was never going to happen, they failed to focus on the complete dominance Coach Self has enjoyed against his B1G coaching counterparts. And, in the end, although the score was tight, and the result was always in question – Self once again coached Thad Matta into obscurity.
So, as we look to the Championship game, the narrative from the sports journalists will once again be predictable. The focus will be on the “once-and-doners”, the dominance of this UK squad, and the meeting of Player-of-the-Year competitors, Robinson and Anthony Davis. They will, as they have from the start, miss the biggest factor of Monday’s game. These journalists, the so-called experts, will go on endlessly, as they have all tournament long, telling us how great Kentucky’s players are, how they are unstoppable. And the Wildcats players are very, very good. These “experts” will also say that Kansas doesn’t have a chance. For those of us who have followed Coach Self, we’ve come to take this the way that he does. We don’t let the disrespectful nature of such statements rub us wrong. We don’t do what many of our East Coast counterparts do, and get indignant or chippy. Nope. We just get behind the guy who quietly proves them all wrong. And because of that, my money is on Billy Self. Always.
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