{"id":2148,"date":"2014-02-25T02:36:23","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T02:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/?p=2148"},"modified":"2024-09-08T13:06:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T17:06:12","slug":"10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2014\/02\/25\/10\/","title":{"rendered":"10"},"content":{"rendered":"

After KU clinched at least a share of their 10th-straight Big 12 title last night, a discussion list I\u2019m on started throwing out things that weren\u2019t around the last time KU did not win the conference regular season championship. The iPhone and iPad. Mad Men<\/em> and Breaking Bad<\/em>. Twitter.<\/p>\n

I realized that a lot of us have kids that have never known a world where KU didn\u2019t rule the Big 12. M.\u00a0was born eight months before the first title in the stretch. That, famously, was the year I stopped watching games for a week because I couldn\u2019t behave during, and more importantly after, games and thought I needed a break to be a better father.<\/p>\n

Some things haven\u2019t changed much. I needed a long cooling off process shoveling snow after the San Diego State game back in early January. I guess I\u2019ve learned to focus that negative energy.<\/p>\n

\n

There is plenty of talk about the significance of the streak. I don\u2019t know what to add to all that. Obviously, it\u2019s pretty damn cool. I enjoy how the national media has really run with the story each season as the streak stretched beyond five years and became something unique in the modern sports world. And I appreciate all the crazy stats the pop up this time of year. Bill Self\u2019s conference titles vs. home losses totals. KU\u2019s road conference record compared to other teams\u2019 home records. How every team that is in, or was in, the Big 12 has had a losing conference record at least once over the streak.<\/p>\n

It all boils down to something we all know: KU has been really freaking good for a long time. Sure, there have been disappointments along the way. But the title streak is a reminder that even with some notable losses in March, more often than not when KU takes the court, they\u2019re the most talented team, the best prepared, and have a pretty good coach running things. And then they usually take care of the task at hand.<\/p>\n

\n

I\u2019m finding this one especially sweet, and not just because of the nice, round symmetry of the number 10. Or because it\u2019s something that likely won\u2019t be repeated any time soon in the super conference era. Rather, I continue to believe that while this team has nearly limitless potential, they won\u2019t realize it this year. I worry a bit that the Wiggins-Embiid-Selden year will be remembered for a bad shooting night in March. Thus, I really wanted them to grab this title as their own. When people bemoan the realities of the one-and-done era, this will be a reminder that this batch of youngin\u2019s was pretty damn good.<\/p>\n

\n

I know some of you will recall that, not too long ago, I wrote that this would likely be the year the streak ended. I would have been thrilled if KU had gone 3-2 in their first five Big 12 games, figuring San Diego State exposed a bunch of weaknesses that conference foes would take advantage of.<\/p>\n

The Jayhawks quickly proved me wrong. They won their first seven games of the conference slate. Shows how much I know about hoops, I suppose.<\/p>\n

I honestly believed that, though. And I hope my view of their current flaws is another over-reaction and they\u2019re going to make a deep run in March. I still worry about how they guard the perimeter. I worry about their point guard play. I worry about how they play defense in transition. I worry about Wiggins going 3-15 on a night when no one else can buy a shot. I worry about Embiid getting hurt. I worry about a team full of young guys cracking under the extreme pressure of March.<\/p>\n

So really, despite all of KU\u2019s success over the years, I\u2019m no different than every other fan this time of year. I see plenty of great things, but probably focus too much on, and over-emphasize, the flaws I also see.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been another great year for Kansas basketball. I\u2019m hopeful that last night\u2019s celebration won\u2019t be the last, or the high point of the 2013-14 season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After KU clinched at least a share of their 10th-straight Big 12 title last night, a discussion list I\u2019m on started throwing out things that weren\u2019t around the last time KU did not win the conference regular season championship. The iPhone and iPad. Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Twitter. I realized that a lot of us have kids that have never known a world where KU didn\u2019t rule the Big 12. M.\u00a0was born eight months before the first title in the stretch. That, famously, was the year I stopped watching games for a week because I couldn\u2019t behave during, and more importantly after, games and thought I needed a break to be a better father. Some things haven\u2019t changed much. I needed a long cooling off process shoveling snow after the San Diego State game back in early January. I guess I\u2019ve learned to focus that negative energy. There is plenty of talk about the significance of the streak. I don\u2019t know what to add to all that. Obviously, it\u2019s pretty damn cool. I enjoy how the national media has really run with the story each season as the streak stretched beyond five years and became something unique in the modern sports world. And I appreciate all the crazy stats the pop up this time of year. Bill Self\u2019s conference titles vs. home losses totals. KU\u2019s road conference record compared to other teams\u2019 home records. How every team that is in, or was in, the Big 12 has had a losing conference record at least once over the streak. It all boils down to something we all know: KU has been really freaking good for a long time. Sure, there have been disappointments along the way. But the title streak is a reminder that even with some notable losses in March, more often than not when KU takes the court, they\u2019re the most talented team, the best prepared, and have a pretty good coach running things. And then they usually take care of the task at hand. I\u2019m finding this one especially sweet, and not just because of the nice, round symmetry of the number 10. Or because it\u2019s something that likely won\u2019t be repeated any time soon in the super conference era. Rather, I continue to believe that while this team has nearly limitless potential, they won\u2019t realize it this year. I worry a bit that the Wiggins-Embiid-Selden year will be remembered for a bad shooting night in March. Thus, I really wanted them to grab this title as their own. When people bemoan the realities of the one-and-done era, this will be a reminder that this batch of youngin\u2019s was pretty damn good. I know some of you will recall that, not too long ago, I wrote that this would likely be the year the streak ended. I would have been thrilled if KU had gone 3-2 in their first five Big 12 games, figuring San Diego State exposed a bunch of weaknesses that conference foes would take advantage of. The Jayhawks quickly proved me wrong. They won their first seven games of the conference slate. Shows how much I know about hoops, I suppose. I honestly believed that, though. And I hope my view of their current flaws is another over-reaction and they\u2019re going to make a deep run in March. I still worry about how they guard the perimeter. I worry about their point guard play. I worry about how they play defense in transition. I worry about Wiggins going 3-15 on a night when no one else can buy a shot. I worry about Embiid getting hurt. I worry about a team full of young guys cracking under the extreme pressure of March. So really, despite all of KU\u2019s success over the years, I\u2019m no different than every other fan this time of year. I see plenty of great things, but probably focus too much on, and over-emphasize, the flaws I also see. It\u2019s been another great year for Kansas basketball. I\u2019m hopeful that last night\u2019s celebration won\u2019t be the last, or the high point of the 2013-14 season.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,52,58],"class_list":["post-2148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basketball","tag-college-sports","tag-kansas-jayhawks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14337,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2148\/revisions\/14337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}