"Utter. Domination." -- Kansas 73 Texas A&M 53

by rockchalk on Jan 20, 2009 12:23 AM CST in Kansas Jayhawk Basketball

Let's be honest; who saw that coming? I think most of us, at least everyone not incredibly pessimistic, had us winning the game. We are the more talented team, we were at home. We were coming off of non-demanding games against Kansas State and Colorado. They were the less talented team, they were on the road, they were coming off demanding games @ Okie State, vs. Baylor and vs. Oklahoma. We were the favorites, and we were expected to win.

No one, though, saw this coming. At least, no one who put their thoughts on the internets. Some might have even predicted something approaching a twenty-point victory, but not in the same fashion. Not in a race-out-to-an-18-4-lead and never look back. It could have been much uglier. Trust me. We called off the dogs sometime in the early-going of the second half, and we still managed to end up winning by twenty.

Photo detail

(Nick Krug -- KU Sports)

That picture, right there, is pretty telling of the game. Even when they went all out, we were still just a little better. Oftentimes, we were a lot better. I hate to say it, this supposed to be a complete rebuilding year and all, but we were clearly the better team tonight.

The real key story, though, besides the complete domination of a pretty solid aTm club would be the emergence of Mario Little. Fifteen points is a lot, a helluva lot, and something that I certainly didn't see coming. If he can continue to be a solid, point-scoring presence, someone who can create his own shot, our offense is instantly substantially better. I promise.

OK, that's all for now. Plenty more tomorrow, but for now, soak up a great win. But, it was at home. And we've already proven we can win, and win big, at home. The key will be to win, at the very least, the gimmes on the road. I'm talking in Manhattan, in Ames, in Lincoln and in Lubbock. You win those four, lose only once on our home floor (which, after watching tonight, might not happen after all), and that's eleven wins. Poof. Automatic NCAA bid, and a potentially decent seed.

Plus, we still have an outside shot at winning the conference. I'm not giving up the dream yet, folks.

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Yes it was dominating

but please leave my utters out of it.

by labbadabba on Jan 20, 2009 8:49 AM CST reply actions

Little is key

I’ve been saying this for a while, Little is the key to this team’s ceiling. In Self’s system, there are guards, and there are forwards. All guards get to handle the ball, and all forwards get touches in the paint. And then you have Brandon Rush, who ties it all together as a swing man who can rebound (everyone always seems to forget that he lead the team in rebounding as a freshman, and averaged about 5 boards a game for his career), stretch the defense with the three, and slash to the rim on occasion.
On this team, until Little started playing, no one fits that mold other than marcus morris, who just isn’t developed enough yet to play the 3 in college. I think Little seems to be a more prone to driving to the basket (although my memories of brandon are skewed since until the very end of the year he shot a lot more threes than he drove to the basket), and isn’t the defender rush was, but I think he’s going to add toughness to the wing and provide someone that can be the go to perimeter scorer (along with taylor when he’s going) when sherron is on the bench

by 2.1 seconds left on Jan 20, 2009 9:08 AM CST reply actions

what did self do wrong here?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3846492

story just came across the wire about a half hour ago about self potentially committing an NCAA infraction by saying hello to one of his most coveted recruits. is this a joke?

by Danny Satan on Jan 20, 2009 11:54 AM CST reply actions

i didn't realize there was a thread on this a few stories down, my bad

but still, if the worst-case scenario happened and they deemed this an infraction, what would that mean for Self and KU hoops since they’re technically on probation right now?

by Danny Satan on Jan 20, 2009 11:59 AM CST up reply actions

It will likely mean nothing...

if you read within the article the writer asked his own University’s compliance office about the implications and as they said…

"(He) definitely shouldn’t have done that, but it’s not uncommon," Yates said. "If he would have sat him down and had a conversation, that would have been a big deal."

so while it was probably something he should have avoided doing it isn’t anything that will result in penalties, this is nothing like a Kelvin Sampson type infraction or anything of that matter…should be fairly quickly resolved.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 20, 2009 12:02 PM CST up reply actions

but

while the probation thing is still around, it was still pretty dumb. At least in my opinion.

I just got back from your mom's basement.

by Warden11 on Jan 20, 2009 2:03 PM CST up reply actions

Agreed.

Especially considering he self-reported it later, why would he have done it in the first place?

i just don’t get it. Is that one sentence really worth all of this trouble? And yes, I understand it isn’t really all that serious, and nothing should come from it, but still. It just seems stupid, to me.

by rockchalk on Jan 20, 2009 2:18 PM CST up reply actions

Stupid yes but...

I caught Doug Gottlieb on ESPN today talking about it and he made the comment that every single coach in the country does this and if there is a coach that isn’t doing it that would be bigger news.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 20, 2009 2:25 PM CST up reply actions

hahaha gottlieb is a pimp

by Danny Satan on Jan 20, 2009 3:17 PM CST up reply actions

But a likable, well-informed pimp.

by hunter s. royal on Jan 20, 2009 6:02 PM CST up reply actions

"Plus, we still have an outside shot at winning the conference. I'm not giving up the dream yet, folks."

Nor should you. Even if it’s a litte unfair because of our north scheduling, we’re definitely in the running.

OU is a really good team that’s getting much better, but they’re not your typical fifth ranked team – very beatable. Not to say we’ll beat them in Norman, but I wouldn’t rule it out either and I definitely don’t see them running through the league unscathed.

It won’t be easy, but more and more this KU team is looking plenty capable of 12-4. Will that be enough to win the league? Maybe not, but it will be right up there for sure.

by hiphopopotamus on Jan 20, 2009 12:18 PM CST reply actions

+1

This is a year where the North/South difference could be huge, IMO. Other than maybe TT, OU faces damn tough competition from every other team in their division. They likely have to sweep Baylor and either OSU or aTm to have a shot at winning outright. Not saying they can’t do it, but it won’t be easy.

I keep going back to what the radio guys said about Mario Little, and how they held him out of the CU game (basically). How much pressure can his leg handle? Will he be on an every/other game schedule the rest of the way? What will his practice load be like? His fitness level? Stress fractures don’t just magically heal by putting a pounding on them every day.

Seems like an awful lot of uncertainty to place on someone who is likely our most important player (since we effectively know what we’re getting from Sherron and Cole) going forward.

by KennyGregoryRockThaCradle on Jan 20, 2009 5:25 PM CST up reply actions

You bring up some good questions regarding Little...

I guess only time will tell I’m not sure we’ll get the full story in season but I hope it’s perhaps a precautionary measure during a stretch of the conference slate where we can “afford” to ease him into things a little more.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Jan 20, 2009 5:40 PM CST up reply actions