Month: March 2022 (Page 1 of 2)

What a god damn game! (Excuse the blasphemy.)

KU never makes it easy in the Elite 8. It’s a hard-ass game in a killer tournament where one bad performance can wreck a season of excellence. For every Kansas-Duke in 2018 and KU-UNC in 2012 – wide-open, flowing games where the teams exchange big shot after big shot until one finally flinches – you have way more games like Kansas-Villanova 2016, which was a disgusting rock fight that was physically draining to watch.

KU has a special gift for playing tight in that round, for missing chances to break those games open, for trying to make a five-point play when they just need a single bucket, and for guys who have shot lights-out for weeks suddenly being unable to find the rim. Or just flat playing like garbage like they did in 2007 against UCLA and 2017 against Oregon.

For 20 minutes Saturday, it sure felt like we were headed down that ugly path again. Miami, a team that according to the advanced stats had a shocking similarity to 2011 VCU, used a 9–2 run late in the first half to go into halftime with a six-point lead over the Jayhawks. If not for a fantastic defensive possession by KJ Adams, who played just the final 30 seconds of the first half before the benches got cleared, it could have been worse.

Kameron McGusty was torching the Jayhawks. Every single KU player seemed tentative. They kicked the ball around needlessly. They bricked all five 3-point attempts, four of which were basically unguarded. They missed six damn free throws.

Nightmare time was coming.

I only know what my halftime texts were like, but I imagine they were similar to others by KU fans all over the country. The gist of mine was that Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun needed to stop being scared of making a mistake and play with abandon. Miami is a nice little team, but they can’t match those two when they are at their best. I was more direct: Bill Self should tell Ochai his jersey will not go in the rafters if he doesn’t stop playing like dogshit. Or something like that. Och had 20 minutes to reclaim his legacy and not have idiots like me being irrationally angry at him the way we were angry with Jacque Vaughn for playing terribly in his final tournament game.

Now, a quick rewind. I was a little more tense than usual because of where and how I watched the game. We are on spring break in Siesta Key, FL. We spent the day with some friends a few miles down the beach and rather than come home, I borrowed their condo room and TV.

While happy to be able to watch with minimal loss of beach time, their condo did not have the ideal tech setup. Yes, they had a large TV with HD cable. However, there was something weird about the aspect ratio on their TV and the sides of the CBS picture were cut off, as if the picture had been stretched. This had the added effect of making everything on the screen look very flat. So arcing jumpers looked more like lasers. I dug through every TV and cable box setting I could find and couldn’t get the aspect corrected.

Their cable would also blink out for half a second every so often.

And their wifi was absolute crap and I couldn’t load Twitter or any box scores.

Plus I had barely one bar of Verizon signal, so texts were coming in sporadically.

None of this helped my nerves.

Finally, my hosts’ 15-year-old son and five of his friends came in to grab some food right as Miami was making their run before halftime. I couldn’t throw things or drop loud F-bombs while they were around because then I would look like a complete lunatic. One of them noticed the score and said, loudly, “DAMN, MIAMI IS BEATING KANSAS???”

Long story short, I was feeling some stress. And given Bill Self’s face was as red in the first minute of the game as it had been all year, and he’s not know for being carefree and easy in the Elite 8, I must admit my confidence was low that things would get much better in the second half. I didn’t think KU was necessarily doomed quite yet. Still I figured the next hour would be an absolutely awful experience and likely add a few more days/months/years to the total that KU basketball has taken off my life.

Fortunately Ochai, Christian, McCormack, DaJuan Harris, Remy Martin, Jalen Wilson, and Mitch Lightfoot played maybe the best half of basketball KU has played all season and all that stress went away.

It was breathtaking. Their defensive pressure was astonishing and totally shut down Miami’s attack. The long outlet passes, which had been like a 50–50 proposition all year yet worked every time in that opening surge. The withering offensive attack. McCormack playing like a man who did not want his career to end despite some serious physical struggles.

Just as the second half began L came up from the beach with her godmother (our hostess). C came up a few minutes later. They sat with me, and enjoyed watching me as much as the game. I screamed. I yelled. I smacked the table and the couch. I howled when Braun dunked on one possession and hit a massive 3 on the next to give KU a lead they never gave up. I ran towards the TV screaming when Ochai finally hit a 3-pointer. Yet I was still probably 43% calmer than I would have been at home. I would have busted out the old “run around the house” move after a few of those plays.

The game was tied at 40-all. The final score was 76–50. That’s a 36–10 run for my fellow liberal arts majors. That was right up there with the run to close the Sweet 16 game against Purdue in 2017 and the run to open the national semifinal against North Carolina in 2008 as best runs in Self’s KU tournament history. Sure, it was just Miami. As noted above, though, KU has lost these games before. To not just win, but to destroy Miami’s souls along the way, was an amazingly cathartic moment for KU fans.

KU fans have waited all year for this team to figure things out defensively. It seems they have finally done it, slowly but consistently, over the past six weeks. By one measure, KU has been the best team in the country since Feb. 1 when you look at combined offensive and defensive effectiveness. It’s not always a lock-down D, but it does just enough to limit teams from getting what they want on consecutive possessions. Which is exactly what you need in March.

Now, after a bracket that seemed to be breaking for KU every step of the way they go to New Orleans and face…Villanova. No program has created more nightmares for KU in the last decade than Villanova. The Wildcats kept KU out of the Final Four in 2016. They ran them out of the Final Four in 2018. They beat the team that had Wiggins, Embiid, Selden, Ellis, etc back in November of 2013. I believe Bill Self is something like 3–5 against Jay Wright, but it sure feels worse than that because of those March losses. Wright’s teams always seem built to counter Self’s teams perfectly on both ends.

Let’s not forget that one of those Self wins was in Detroit in 2008, when KU ran Nova off the floor in the Sweet 16.

It might help that Villanova lost second-leading scorer Justin Moore to a season-ending injury Saturday. KU can’t be sure of the health of McCormack, so that could be a wash.

Win that and you get Carolina or Duke. No media frenzies in either of those matchups.

But that’s all a week away. Us fans get a week to bask in the glow of a 16th Final Four while the team rests and preps. I can worry about Villanova on our flight home next week, which hopefully gets us home just in time for tip.

Rock Chalk, bitches!

Ahhhh, Sweet 16 week.

I’ve always said this is the best week of the tournament for the real hoops fan. Provided your team is in it, of course.

The frenzy of the first weekend has been thinned out and we can get down to some real, serious hoops. There’s always an interesting story or three for the national media to latch onto. And there are usually a couple “I HAVE to watch that game!” matchups.

This year I think those marquee matchups are Texas Tech – Duke, Houston – Arizona, and North Carolina – UCLA. Not that the others aren’t intriguing in their own way, but these are the most interesting games on paper.

Plenty of storylines. Obviously St. Peter’s finding a way to continue their miracle run is top of the list. Well, CBS will make it about whether Duke can cap K’s career with another Final Four. Is this finally the Purdue squad that can overcome the program’s history and get to New Orleans? Charlie Moore!!! Will the Midwest remain the region of chaos with a surprise champion or has the chaos just cleared the way for KU to get to the Final Four?

I’m obviously most concerned with that last one.

Like most KU fans this has been a strange week, with me wavering between confidence and fear. We’ve built up Providence to be Gonzaga-lite and the 10/11 seeds making up the opposite regional semifinal as the next cruel trick the Hoops Gods will play on KU fans. “This is 2011 all over again,” has been a familiar refrain.

Smart, more emotionally balanced people have pointed out the bracket also broke for KU in 2008, although that Elite 8 game was far from stress-free. It broke in a different manner, but still for KU, in 1988. So there are two data points to balance the disaster of 2011. Both of them ended with a KU title. Sooooo….

We should probably stop thinking about history and consider the actual opponents.

Providence will be a tough test. Some analysts have dismissed the Friars because of the “luck” they’ve won with this year.[1] To others that makes them battle-tested and ready for any challenge. They are extremely experienced, with an average age older than that of the Oklahoma City Thunder! They are long. They are solid, if not exceptional, on both ends of the court. They get to the free throw line a lot. They have a player who seems ideal for giving Ochai Agbaji fits on the defensive end of the court.

Still, looking around the Sweet 16, I’d rather KU play Providence than Arkansas, Houston, or UCLA. That doesn’t mean KU is guaranteed to win. Sweet 16 games that feature chalk matchups are pretty much coin-flips these days.

If KU plays well defensively and efficiently on offense, they win. If they fuck around and give Providence open shots and don’t play smart on offense, it could be a very tense night. The Friars are good enough to win and it not being some fluke night where everything broke right for them.

The Elite 8 would bring one of two super interesting matchups. Either Charlie Moore and Miami, who are very athletic, have some great wins this year, and just destroyed Auburn for much of their second round game. Or a streaking Iowa State team for the third time. A Cyclones squad that probably should have won in Lawrence back in January.

There are scary things about both of those opponents. But, man, I need to stop being such a KU fan.

The Jayhawks are the best team left in the Midwest bracket. And while the best team doesn’t always win, they should win, dammit. And if they don’t, I’m going to be on a beach in Florida all next week.

KU 77, Providence 68

Rock Chalk, bitches.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a run-in with a local freak, for lack of a better term. You know them: the random, semi-crazy appearing/acting people who engage you in conversation without an invitation.

My favorite such encounter was sometime in the mid–90s at a Dillons in Lawrence, KS with one of that city’s most notable weirdos. I was attempting to buy some anti-perspirant and this man sidled up to me, grabbed a container of Speed Stick or whatever, and started mumbling some nonsense that had to do with being a pawn in the desires of big business, or something along those lines. I kind of enjoyed it, as this dude just seemed out there rather than dangerous in any way. I tried to keep the conversation going but he was more interested in spouting his views rather than having a true dialogue. Somewhere I have a journal with the entire conversation written down. I probably should have looked for that before I started this post…

Anyway, Monday I popped into the local library to grab a book I had reserved. To get to the Holds section you must walk past two tables of public-use computers. As I passed one of the tables I heard someone say, “Are you doing ok, sir?”

I realized I was the only sir walking by, so this question must have been aimed at me. I looked around and saw an odd looking fellow sitting at one of the computers looking at me. Before I could say anything he continued, “It’s ok, sir. It’s just a library,” with a hint of both concern and ridicule in his voice.

I kind of half-chuckled, rolled my eyes, and continued.

I guess this triggered him. He threw his hands up in the air and shook his head in total disgust. I quickened my pace to get around the corner and beyond the safety of the stacks.

I grabbed my book and headed back to the check out area, which would take me by the computer table again. I decided to look casual and devote my total attention to picking through my keys for my mini library card

I should share at this moment another key detail: this guy had wild hair and a face tattoo. Not to stereotype, but I’m guessing someone who seems a little unhinged and has a face tattoo is not one you want to push.

I kept my peripheral vision alert just in case dude tried to rush me. I kept an ear open just in case there were any more comments, too.

Fortunately for me, but probably unfortunately for this story, I had no more interaction with this gentleman. Once I was safely in my locked car, I let out a breath and started laughing. You can get all kinds at public libraries, but between Covid and mask requirements they have seemed less interesting for the past two years. Glad to see things are getting back to normal.

Damascus Station – David McCloskey
I believe this is my third espionage novel written by a former CIA employee in recent months. And it was, by far, the best of that bunch.

Set in, wait for it, Damascus, Syria, it is the story of an American CIA officer who recruits a member of the Syrian intelligence service and gets pulled into the truly bizarre world of the Syrian government. Oh, he’s an attractive man, she’s an attractive woman, and they become far more than agent and handler.

I think what set this book above the others like it I’ve read recently is that it seemed about 18% more believable. The whole romance angle gets done a lot in spy stories, but that really worked in this one. And perhaps because it took place in Syria, a country that we know little about, I bought into McCloskey’s description of its history, its current state, and its byzantine governmental hierarchy a little more. Oh, and the story was very good.

I still can’t quite say what it was that made this book stand out. But it did, and it one of my favorite spy reads of the past couple years.

Billy Summers – Stephen King
It’s amazing how King just keeps going. He’s 74 and continues to crank out novels. After a lull a decade or so back, his works have generally been pretty good recently. This one was a bit of a disappointment, though.

Billy Summers is a hitman who takes on one, last, very unusual assignment before he retires. The job involves spending anywhere from weeks to months setting himself up in a location waiting for conditions to align so he can make this hit. As he waits he is supposed to pose as an author working on a book. With nothing better to do, he decides to go ahead and pretend to be a writer and put the parts of his life that lead him to becoming a hitman down on (digital) paper. When the time arrives for the hit, there are complications, which give Summers two new missions.

What sets King’s best works apart are some strange magic that only he seems able to conjure. Sadly that magic is missing here. It feels like the bones of a good story that he just couldn’t get all the adornments adjusted correctly around. There are plenty of nice moments, even the obligatory references to another classic King work, but the book never reaches the heights of my favorites of his work.

The Roanoke Girls – Amy Engel
I believe this is the second time I’ve read a book written by someone that I know. I know Amy from way back, and was aware that she wrote a YA series and then moved into more adult works. A couple friends told me that this book was a really good read, but it was also very dark and not what I would likely expect from the author. I was reminded of it recently, with another heads-up that it is kind of twisted, and decided to track it down.

That warning was super true.

The story revolves around a family in a small Kansas town, and the multi-generational secret that dominates their existence. As I was warned, I picked up on the hints right away and knew what was coming. That didn’t make the slow revelation any less shocking.

Back when I used to think about writing some fiction, I always struggled with how to write about darker subjects. I wasn’t sure I would feel comfortable letting friends and family read something that was kind of fucked up, lest they think I was kind of fucked up. I think it’s great that Engel got over any qualms she had about chasing an interesting story at the risk of having people wonder where the hell she got that idea from. Oh, and it’s a really good story, too.

Jayhawk Talk

It happened! It finally happened! A highly seeded KU team played a less talented team in the round of 32, saw that team go nuts from behind the 3-point line, and still managed to gut out a win and advance to the Sweet 16.

The Creighton game was not a lot of fun to watch, at least as a KU fan. Ochai Agbaji suddenly can’t shoot, seems to be forcing bad shots, and plays soft/lazy on defense. Jalen Wilson played like an absolute dog in the first half and kept bricking 3’s early in the shot clock. Christian Braun made a couple extremely bad turnovers without much defensive pressure in moments when KU seemed poised to take control. Dave McCormack was ineffective most of the day. And Creighton, who shot around 30% for the year from 3, kept draining triples. I’ve seen this movie before. I did not like it.

A Creighton run cut the KU lead to one with under 2:00 to play and left me throwing things and feeling like I was going to either puke or pass out. Or both. Then the Jayhawks made a series of massive defensive plays. Creighton bricked a few of those 3’s that had been dropping early. And KU escaped with a win to advance to Chicago.

Despite all of that, there was plenty to be happy about. KU didn’t falter or fluster despite Creighton’s constant runs. The Jayhawks didn’t play particularly well on offense and still scored 79 points. They dominated the boards.

However, the biggest thing to be happy about was Remy Martin. Thirty-five points in two games. Thursday he turned a close contest into a blowout in about three minutes. Saturday he was the only KU player who could score in the first half. This was the player KU had been waiting on the entire season!

I found it interesting that CBS kept saying that Bill Self sat Remy down for three weeks. I don’t think that was ever clearly communicated as the plan while it was happening, so I’m inclined to think that is more adjusting the narrative after the fact. Which, whatever. All that matters is that he seems healthy, locked-in, and playing really well now.

Hopefully this week Ochai can figure out/fix whatever is ailing his game. And Dave McCormack can heal up and be ready for a rugged Providence team.

Until a week ago, most KU fans would have been completely satisfied with making the Sweet 16, or at least that had been the case since Remy’s injury saga began. After a Big 12 tournament title, the re-emergence of Remy, and a number one seed, expectations changed.

AND THEN THE MIDWEST BRACKET BLEW UP. WHAT BAD THINGS COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN NOW????

More on that later this week.

Other Assorted NCAA Notes

The first week of the NCAA tournament is A LOT. Thanks to long games on both Tuesday and Wednesday, I was up until or past midnight five straight nights. I finally bailed early Sunday. But as we sit here on Monday of Sweet 16 week, that first First Four game seems like a long time ago.

Late edit: I wrote most of this Sunday evening. Before the TCU-Arizona game captured my attention and kept me up until 12:30 again. I’m a little fried this morning.

Games of the weekend?

TCU-Arizona was amazing. Frogs got hosed.

It was soooo fun that Kentucky went out in the first round to St. Peter’s, even though that meant the Marion County sales tax coffers took a hit.[1] And it also destroyed my bracket. As a fan of a Blue Blood that has taken some heat over early exits, I am always ready to celebrate when another Blue Blood shits the bed.

But Carolina-Baylor had to be the game of the weekend, right? I missed most of the game while L was playing, but was following the score (as much as spotty cell service would allow). Then I listened on our way home. I heard Brady Manek go ballistic from three and then get tossed for throwing an elbow. I heard Carolina slowly meltdown, but never thought they would totally blow it. I got home in time to see Baylor complete the comeback through an insane ending, then the Heels pull away in OT.

What a damn game. I guess the officiating sucked. I know that from one friend who was at the game – and got a picture with Roy! – and from all the articles I read about it on Sunday. Apparently the refs totally lost control and then didn’t know how to get it back. What an embarrassment. Especially given numerous other blatantly incorrect calls over the weekend. Each time defended by the completely needless Gene Steratore. Refs stick together more than cops, man.

There are a lot of problems with college basketball. Unfortunately many of them stem from the officiating, generally in the lack of consistency from the refs. NBA refs aren’t perfect, but you generally know how a game will be called and that doesn’t change unless the game becomes overly physical. The NBA refs also being subject to public critiques makes the product better and more consistent. But the NCAA allows refs to hide from the media, puts a mouthpiece like Steratore on CBS, and never issues anything like the NBA’s Last Two Minute Reports. Typical NCAA, whistling past the graveyard as their product melts down.

The final play of regulation and all of overtime in the TCU-Arizona game was also an absolute disaster. I can’t believe Jamie Dixon didn’t murder a ref.

This time of year I always marvel at the evolution of how we view the tournament. Remember when you could only watch whatever was on your local CBS station? So, like, if a Big 10 team was playing, there was no way I could watch KU here in Indy? Eventually CBS started posting the scores of every active game on the screen. I remember “watching” a few KU games that way before 2008.

Then for a few years you could stream any game for free. That’s how I watched the first three games of KU’s 2008 run. I recall that our Internet service wasn’t ready to try to stream a basketball game. There was a lot of buffering and choppiness to the feed. Sometimes it just stopped working for long stretches.

Finally the current, perfect system where every game is live across the country on four different channels. There’s plenty to complain about CBS’ coverage, but our access to games is not one of those things.[2]

I will complain about the commercials. There are too many commercial breaks with too many of the same commercials. There are too many commercials that feature mascots. Way too many AT&T commercials, most of which are dumb.

I must say, the Coach K one is perfect, though. It is a wonderful representation of what a smarmy, entitled ass he is. That was what they were going for, right?

I would be fine never seeing the Special Olympics commercial again. I swear I’ve seen it 5000 times over the past two weeks.

Worst part of the tournament? Back-to-back long time outs. Just brutal that every commercial break is somehow 2:30. I’ve seen coaches signal for a 30 second time out and then had to sit through five commercials, plus a delay while the refs make sure the CBS sideline reporter can give their meaningless update.

I could use less Grant Hill, too. I think he’s just a bad match for Bill Raftery, who remains great. Hill rarely offers any commentary that strikes me as particularly unique or insightful, or that benefits from his long playing career. He often seems more concerned about telling bad jokes that show how he is buddies with Jim Nantz and Raferty. Please, tell another joke about who doesn’t grab the dinner check!

Brackets and Pools

My brackets suck. I was in last place in all three after day one. That’s what having Kentucky in the Final Four will do to you. Not one of my upset picks came through. Auburn going out Sunday removed one of my two finalists.

BUT…I was able to rejoin a player pool with friends in Kansas City that I hadn’t been involved in since 2005 or so. I got the first pick, taking Drew Timme. Most of my other picks have done well, too. I still have six of my eight players alive, and I’ve only had one single-digit game out of 16 played. I have a 67-point lead going into the Sweet 16.

Youth Hoops

L had her first real AAU tournament over the weekend. Two pool games Saturday followed by a two-game bracket on Sunday.

I went to the first game Saturday (I left to watch “my sons” play, as L called KU) and saw both Sunday. They got smoked by 27 in the first pool game, then lost by five to a team that beat them by 20 two weeks ago. L had a single bucket in both games. The girls looked shook in that first game but I heard they settled down and played solid in the second.

Sunday they pounded the first team they played by 25. We had a running clock five minutes into the second half then the refs stopped the game at the 2:00 mark. Apparently that’s what you do in these tourneys when it’s a 20 point game to keep things moving. L was 1–3 from the line and 0-fer from the field.

Although the other semifinal was on the court next to us, both winners had to hop into their cars and run to the high school 10 minutes away for the title game.

That was a good game for the first 8–9 minutes, then our girls went on a nice run to lead by 10 at half. It never got closer in the second half, we got it up to running clock territory, and won by 17. L had a nice game, although she was a little sped-up at times. She scored 8 on probably 4–12 shooting. She was firing! She scored twice on what I call the Josh Jackson play, taking a pass from the weave outside the arc and cutting to the basket. Although Josh dunked where she flipped in runners. She also had two steals that turned into layups.

They got medals. Sure, it was the consolation bracket, but they still said champions! She, and her teammates, were pretty happy. And they did it without two players, one who is their best rebounder.

HS Hoops

Amongst all the NCAA and AAU ball, Cathedral was playing at semistate on Saturday. They had a 19-point lead early, an 18-point lead moments after halftime, and found themselves tied with 90 seconds to play. I doubt that was stressful.

A short jumper, a put-back, and a dunk later and the Irish had advanced to the state championship game. They play undefeated, #1 Chesterton. I know nothing about them, although they are three spots lower than Cathedral in the computer rankings.

It’s finally here: the first normal NCAA tournament in three years! It’s also supposed to be well into the 70s here in Indy today, so it might be the most perfect day ever.

I did not do a ton of research in preparation for making NCAA picks. I listened to a couple podcasts that had sections on picks, and I skimmed a few articles. But no deep-dives.

So I guess picks first followed by some KU talk?

Final Four:
Gonzaga
Kentucky
Houston
Auburn

Gonzaga beats Auburn for the title.

I’m very confident in the top half of the bracket. That bottom half? I went back-and-forth several times and would not bet anything significant on either of them. Which totally means Memphis is going to shock the Zags and Purdue or Baylor will blow out Kentucky, while Houston and Auburn cruise to New Orleans, right?

If I knew that Kerr Kriisa would be completely healthy and playing at full strength I would swap Arizona for Houston. His ankle injury looked nasty, though. Maybe he’ll be more Kirk Hinrich in 2003 than, I don’t know, name someone who wrecked their ankle in early March, had to play injured in the tournament, and suffered for it.

What about my Jayhawks? I have them losing to Auburn in the Elite 8. Which is weird because I’m way out on Auburn. They’ve fallen apart over the past month and don’t have great guards. But I don’t see anyone on Auburn’s side of the bracket that should give them too many issues. I have Wisconsin losing to LSU, which is probably my biggest upset of the tournament. And likely dumb since LSU is a mess. Even if the Badgers make it to Chicago, I have a feeling Auburn will overwhelm them. If Auburn wins three games I think they’ll have their mojo back and their size and athleticism will be too much for KU. Exactly like it was in 2019. I hate Bruce Pearl.

I know Iowa is a trendy upset pick over KU in the Sweet 16. But Iowa’s offense is only marginally better than Kansas’, and the Jayhawks play much better defense than the Hawkeyes. Keegan Murray will be a bitch to guard, but KU has a chance to get stops where I won’t think Iowa does.

How narratives form this time of year is always interesting to me. Iowa is considered super hot, winning 12 of their last 14, including eight wins over tournament teams. They seem more popular out of the Midwest than KU.

However, over Kansas’ last 14 games they went…11–3 with nine wins over tournament teams.

KU was good all year where Iowa had a three-game losing streak early in the Big 10 season, so their trend is more impressive, thus they are the hot team, I guess.

Regardless, that could be a very fun game to watch if it comes to pass.

I watched a ton of hoops this weekend. The most in ages. Especially on Saturday, when I barely left the couch. Two of our nephews stopped by and one of them, the nearly six-year-old, asked C, “Why is Uncle D always watching basketballsports?” Basketballsports. One word. Made me laugh. You picked the wrong weekend to get any attention from Uncle D, buddy.

Some notes on what I watched.

Jayhawk Talk

WHOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!

Just a week ago KU was fortunate to not have ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak, and KU fans were pessimistic about the future. After three wins in Kansas City, including their toughest win of the year over the (alleged) toughest team in the conference, all of a sudden KU fans were thinking Final Four and more.

First, that was a good-ass win Saturday in the Big 12 title game over Texas Tech. Tech probably should have swept KU in the regular season, coming a miracle Ochai Agbaji 3 away from winning in overtime in Lawrence. I figured they would be playing free and easy and confident Saturday. It took them awhile, but midway through the second half they finally had a little spurt and took a 54–51 lead. It felt like they had KU on the ropes, especially with KU going through a sequence where they kept kicking the ball around or forcing shots that weren’t there.

KU took a timeout, settled down, and then closed the game on a 23–11 run. Jalen Wilson was a stud in the second half, getting just about every loose ball and scoring some big buckets in traffic. David McCormack battled his ass off. Dave elicits so many feelings from KU fans, not all good. But we’ve reached the point in his career, and he’s reached a level of play, where you can’t help but admire how hard he works. Now I worry more about his health causing issues for KU the next three weeks than his play being key in losing.

And Remy Fucking Martin! Hello, stranger! He got a few more minutes and a little better each game in Kansas City. Tech is one of those terrible matchups for DaJuan Harris due to their physicality, and Remy stepped right in. He’s tiny, too, but he was too damn fast for Tech to contain. The biggest play of the game, likely, was him stepping in and forcing a turnover on an inbounds play after a KU score. Seconds later Wilson scored, KU was up eight, and the game was over.

KU hit free throws, played some of their best defense of the year, got some important rebounds, erased a second-half deficit, and won a game against a #3 NCAA seed with Agbaji not doing much within the offense. That’s some good shit right there, Jayhawks fans.

Other than Mitch Lightfoot hurting his knee, the weekend went about as well as it possibly could for KU. Oh yeah, there was this, too.

OCHAI AGBAJI pic.twitter.com/uPT9hY5Hof

— We good? (@gifhawk2) March 12, 2022

I screamed. And watched replays about a thousand times.

It came on the sixth anniversary of this, no less!

High School Hoops

Both of the Cathedral Regional playoff games Saturday were on local TV. C watched them both with me, the other two girls drifted in and out. In the opener, they took on Terre Haute North. CHS dominated early, were up by as many as 16 and seemed totally in control through the first half. THN started hitting shots in the second half, got it down to a one-point game, but never had the ball with a chance to take the lead as the Irish won by five.

In the nightcap CHS took on Ben Davis, who beat them by one point three weeks ago. We missed most of the first half watching KU, but flipped over just in time to see Cathedral hit a 3 at the halftime buzzer to go up by four. Then they curb-stomped Ben Davis in the third quarter, hitting threes, getting blocks, forcing turnovers, and throwing down a few dunks. They led by as many as 22 and never let BD get closer than 15 in a meaningless fourth quarter.

On to Semistate next week.

Other College Games

I flipped around a lot when not watching either KU or CHS. The Indiana-Iowa game was tremendous fun. Iowa fans don’t take over Indy quite like Iowa State fans take over Kansas City, but it was still a great atmosphere for a great game with a tremendous finish.

Michigan State – Purdue was a lot closer than I expected. Purdue just can’t seem to be steady enough on the defensive end to close out these games easily. This really should be the team that gets Purdue fans over a lot of their angst built up over the past 40 years. I think they certainly have a decent chance to make it to New Orleans. But it seems like those odds should be way better than they actually are.

It was treeeemendous catching the end of Virginia Tech – Duke. If Biden doesn’t declare a national holiday when Duke goes out in the NCAAs, I will support impeachment. I can’t wait for K to whisper to his media apologists that this season being disappointing – by Duke standards – was somehow the fault of someone else.

I flipped on UCLA – Arizona late, after seeing Twitter buzz that the Bruins might be taking out the Wildcats and give KU a chance to move up to the #2 overall seed. As soon as I turned it on Arizona went on like a 23–5 run and took away any drama. First time I’ve seen them all year. They are impressive.

Brackets

We were out to dinner when the brackets dropped, so I avoided the long, slow reveal. Or what I assume was long and slow.

There was a whole list of teams I wanted KU to avoid. The biggest name on that list was Kentucky. Despite their loss this weekend I think Kentucky is probably as good as anyone and, strangely for a UK team, playing with relatively little pressure. Plus they destroyed KU six weeks ago. I didn’t want really any long, athletic SEC team, Memphis, Illinois, Iowa, or Villanova either. KU got just one of those schools, Iowa, in what could be a spicy matchup in Chicago where the Iowa fans outnumber the Jayhawk fans.

But both teams have to win two to get there. KU will face one of two slow, defensive minded teams in the second round, assuming they get past the 16 seed. San Diego State is athletic and seems like a lower-budget Texas Tech. Creighton has been through the battles of the Big East and were hot over the last month. Both teams offer a threat because of their pace and ability to guard, but KU should be good enough to beat either of them. They’ve been battling ridiculous defenses in the Big 12 for 10 weeks, and went 17–4 against them.

Auburn was a nightmare matchup until they hit their recent cold stretch. I’m not sure they make it to the Elite 8.

I think the most likely team to prevent KU from reaching the Final Four is Iowa, followed by Wisconsin, then Auburn and San Diego State. Iowa is as hot as anyone, has athletic wings, and white guys that can shoot from anywhere. Wisconsin seems custom-built to beat KU in March. That said, KU is 6–2 against Big 10 teams in the tournament in the Bill Self era.

I haven’t broken down the brackets yet, but I’m feeling more a lot more confident about KU than I was a week ago. They seem like a solid bet to win two and then roll the dice in tough matchups in Chicago. And, dammit, I’m thinking they have a decent shot to win four. Which will make the pain if they don’t hit harder.